Forty-two local third-graders took part in this year’s In-School Bike Education Program. Sponsored by the Safe Routes to School Committee and now in its third year, the program teaches youngsters bicycle safety and skills with instruction in the classroom, gym and on the street.
This year, 42 local third-grade students learned how to be safer, more confident bicyclists through the Third Grade In-School Bike Education program. After three years of the program, 135 students have participated through the schools in Grand Marais and Grand Portage. Students receive safety and skills instruction and practice in the classroom, gym, and on the street using a fleet of bicycles purchased with grant funds for the program, sponsored by the local Safe Routes to School Committee.
“A huge thank you to the schools, teachers, students, parents, and, most of all, the volunteers that make this program possible,” said Maren Webb, Safe Routes to School coordinator.
The Safe Routes to School Committee, including Cook County Schools and Great Expectations School, has collaborated with many volunteers to make this program possible. This year Mayor Jay Arrowsmith Decoux and Tim Kennedy served as lead instructors, using the Walk! Bike! Fun! curriculum developed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota.
Students learn important safety and bicycling skills, including the ABC Quick Check (Air – Brakes – Chain – Quick releases – Check it over), helmet fitting, rules of the road, and safe biking skills like power pedaling and scanning. “These are lifelong skills, similar to how we teach children to swim. Bicycles provide opportunities for children to not only be active and have fun, but also as a source of transportation,” said Webb. Instructors work with the students for four sessions before they go out on the streets for a ride that allows them to practice their new skills and have fun in the process. At the completion of the program, each student receives a certificate in celebration of his/ her accomplishment.
Some changes will be coming to this program in the coming years. Parents and students can expect a gap year in the 2017-2018 school year as the schools prepare to relaunch the program with fourth-grade students in the fall of 2018. Cook County has joined schools across the state in offering in-school bike education and is committed to continuing this important program. The local program has been continued with support from the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP), which funds the Safe Routes to School coordinator position, and with support from the membership of the Safe Routes to School Committee.
The Safe Routes to School Committee updated its Safe Routes to School Plan in 2015, which includes education programs. Safe Routes to School programs include the 5 E’s: Education, Encouragement, Evaluation, Engineering, and Enforcement.
For more information about Safe Routes to School, contact SRTS coordinator Maren Webb at maren@sawtoothmountainclinic.org or 218-387-2330.
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