“I’m used to falling off,” laughs third-grader Jonathan Morales.
But, Morales gets right back on his bike and goes at it again.
“I’m still kind of learning how to ride,” he admits.
For the past four weeks, Discovery Community School, in partnership with BLEND of CentraCare, has been teaching students in grades three through five how to ride bikes with its bike fleet.
Students have been learning safety and traffic rules in addition to learning how to ride a bike.
Principal Tammy Wilson wanted the program in her school because it provides lifelong enjoyment and promotes safety for walking and biking to school.
“Last year, students won a bike from one of our family nights and they had to walk them home because they didn’t know how to ride a bike,” explains Wilson.
Morales wants to learn to ride a bike because one day when he has kids, he wants to be able to teach them and “get some exercise and go outside.”
Only a handful of fifth-grade students didn’t know how to ride a bike, but a third of the students in grade three didn’t know how. Many Discovery students came from refugee camps and never had the opportunity to own a bike.
Fourth-grader Valerie Theisen explains that she never learned how to ride a bike because she is “big into playing hockey.” Her schedule didn’t allow her the time to learn how to ride a bike.
Hannah Dockendorf, program specialist at BLEND, describes how popular the program has become. “Willmar just got a fleet last year. Any school district can rent a fleet. However, there is only one fleet, so a lot of districts are applying for grants now to get their own fleet.”
District 742’s grant allowed for a trailer and 35 bikes to be purchased. The fleet will rotate between two to three elementary buildings each fall and spring. Physical education teachers are trained in bicycle safety curriculum and incorporated into their physical education program.
The students really want to learn to ride, and their eagerness shows.
Students line up with their helmets on and bikes in hand waiting for physical education teacher Joe Thoreson to do one last safety check before they get to run the obstacle course.
The obstacle course is made up of stop signs, yield signs, crosswalks and the ever-growing in popularity roundabout.
Wilson says it best, “It’s hard to put into words the excitement these kids have when they bike for the first time. It just shows on their face.”
Summertime can’t come soon enough for these new bike riders!