Ready to Ride: All Kids Bike Program A Success at RCCSD
May 11th, 2023 - It’s one of the biggest milestones for a kid growing up; learning how to ride a bike. However, not every child gets the opportunity to learn. The Red Creek Central School District is now making sure every student in its community gets to experience the joy of riding on two wheels.
It’s called All Kids Bike. The mission is to teach every child in kindergarten how to ride a bike in physical education class. At Red Creek, we expanded the program to the entire elementary school. The program provides helmets and special balance-to-pedal conversion bikes, which allows students to easily learn how to control the bike by just walking, before pedaling. The program also teaches students about bike safety.
Physical Education Teachers Jessica Ashlaw and Dave Briggs heard about the program and thought this would be a perfect opportunity for the district. They reached out to Jennifer DeVinney, the Director of Grants and Community Schools, who was able to find a grant to fund the entire program.
“Most districts, when they implement the program, have to do a fundraising campaign to raise the money,” said Jennifer DeVinney. “Given that this program is focused on teaching all young people to ride by kindergarten, the purchase of these bikes falls perfectly within our UPK Grant.”
Thanks to the availability of these grant funds, the district was able to get this program up and running right away without having to wait. Red Creek is currently the only school district in the Wayne-Finger Lakes Region to offer this program.
Back in December, students began their first lesson, slowly walking on their bikes in a large circle around the gym. This allows them to get comfortable with their bike and surroundings, especially those who may have never ridden on a bike before. By April, students were nearly sprinting on the bikes, riding around obstacles, over bumps and through tunnels.
“To see the student’s growth in not only riding the bike, but in awareness of technique, safety and personal responsibility, speaks to how powerful this program has been for our district,” said Mrs. Ashlaw and Mr. Briggs. “We are excited for the next steps which would be to transition students to using pedals.”
Moving Forward, the district has some great ideas for how to grow this experience for all our students. Specifically, the district is hoping to work with Wayne County Public Health to bring their annual bike helmet giveaways to our community.
- MW Cuyler Elementary