Ep 43 | How Do Bikes Help Kids? Free Bikes & Balance

SPEAKER_00 0:00

She cried. Um, and and I got I had the opportunity to talk to her specifically after the program. Everything's done, and you know, kids are going back to getting ready to dismiss. And and I asked her, I said, I I noticed you tearing up during the presentation. And she said something to the effect of, and I might mince words, but she said, You just never realize what schools do to help your kids grow and learn. She said, It's the little things. She said, it's a bicycle. She said, that's nothing huge, but it's a bicycle. These kids were excited. She said, and my boy, my kid, who I never thought would do anything because of how I was raised and where I am. She said, he was standing up there talking to all these people. She said, he wasn't nervous. She said he had every bit of confidence as the president of the United States.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Do you remember who taught you to ride a bike? Do you remember the feeling it gave you the first time you saw it down the street unassisted? I remember the feeling like I grew up a little bit in that moment. And surely my parents did too. The feeling of accomplishment and autonomy that comes with this simple skill is a significant milestone for kids. That's why the Strider Education Foundation is partnering with local donors all over the country to donate bicycles and curriculum to kids whose parents are in situations that don't allow time or money for things like bikes. My next guest is the assistant principal at Sherwood Elementary, one of the two schools in Escambi County chosen by the foundation to receive a donation funded by the local branch of HDR Engineering. She's going to share what the kids' reactions were to the bikes, how the program works, and why something as simple as a bike is helping unite the community and support kids. Cycling success and facilitating confidence, mom of two, teacher too many, Jennifer Collins.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Hi, I'm glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

This is such a cool program. I'm so glad that we get to talk about it because I imagine a lot of parents listening to this remember the first time they rode a bike. And we all know how you know important that feeling is. And, you know, it's it's a big milestone, like I said. But why is it important enough to make a whole program out of, do you think?

SPEAKER_00 2:54

So it it is big. I as you were reading that, I was actually thinking about my own kids teaching them how to ride their bike in the front yard. And um the other day, Monday maybe, I was actually in PE while kindergarten was on their bikes. And the level of excitement out of these five and six-year-olds was just unbelievable. Um, they were out there, they were falling over and getting back up and trying it again and going back at it and giggling and Miss Collins, Miss Collins, watch this, watch this. Do you see what I could do? And at this point, these bikes that we were that were donated, they they're they start as balance bikes, and then you can later put pedals on them. Well, right now we don't have pedals, so we're just balancing and we're struggling, but it's fantastic because of the excitement. But for these kids, they don't uh get this opportunity at home. So to see their, it's it's like being a mom again, watching them, and they're just so excited, and it's the things that they're gonna do now that will help them 10, 15 years from now. And it's a core memory. Like they're gonna remember this, just like I remember my kids. You remember you're learning to ride a bike. It's uh it's so oh, it's just so much fun.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Isn't it so funny how we uh we look at them and we're like, wow, they're so enthusiastic to fail over and over again. We could really use some of that enthusiasm in our daily lives. Hold on to that, kids. Yes, keep it, hold it, stay tight. What do you think learning to ride a bike teaches kids that they couldn't learn another way?

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Um, I'm I'm gonna bring this in now because I think it plays a part. Um so riding a bike is just a very what people think is just a basic skill that everybody should have. A couple of years ago, Sherwood became a leader in Me School. If you've ever heard of Stephen Covey's seven seven habits of highly effective people, it's basically a program that brings those concepts into the school setting. And we live by five paradigms. They recite a thing every morning. I I am a leader, change starts with me. Um, I lead my own learning, I am a Sherwood archer. And we teach them these seven habits, just general life lessons, be proactive. Um, seek first to understand, then be understood. This whole program centered for us around habit seven, which is sharpen the saw. You have to have a balance between work, life, family, all of the things. And one of the ways that you find that balance is to sharpen the saw. You find things that you enjoy, things that you can do. And so we're giving them a skill that they're not gonna learn at home, but it's also a skill that they can have later in life that will allow them to possibly help create this balance, balance bikes, it ties to the biggest. I know you sound like that. Sounds very good. Um, but it creates this sense of there are other things. We we're teaching them, so so yes, it's a bike, and maybe it seems silly, but riding a bike is going to give these kids confidence, just like you said, they are eager to fail and try again. That is not something a lot of grown adults have. Um, and so we're giving them a sense of confidence, we're building it. You you, if you fall down, get up and go again. Um, but it's also a skill set that later in life we're we're learning about pedestrian safety and car safety. We're learning about stop signs and yield signs and the correct side of the road to ride on and watching for cars. And those are things that yeah, maybe not important today at five years old. But when I'm 15 and I'm learning how to drive a car now, I can take those skill sets that I learned at five and six that have continued to be taught and put them into practice as a hopefully successful citizen of our community. So that's uh it's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

That reminds me of when people talk about music education and the how it does something very cool and real to the synopsis of the brain, allowing students to be more successful at math. Is that a similar correlation?

SPEAKER_00 7:58

I I would think so. I I can't say that I necessarily have the research to back it, but but yes, you're I I think uh education in general has changed a little bit from when I was a kid to now being the adult in the school. And I think in the classroom we do a lot more of that preparation for society. We're teaching them a skill set that they can use later down the road that I can live by, that I know rules. We're, you know, um we work on uh social settings and how to be appropriate in this social setting. And so this bike program is just one more piece of that puzzle of we're setting you up for success 10 years down the road when you're out and you're an adult and you have to be a participating member of society.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yeah, situationally aware, courteous to the people around you, uh resilient towards failure.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Yeah, that's interesting. I really didn't think of it like that because when I think of riding a bike and kids potentially not knowing how to ride a bike, all I initially thought of was, oh man, they're missing out. You know, I wouldn't Well it is fun, it is fun, yeah. But play is important. Play, I I've read that it play helps to accelerate learning. Even for college students, they say study and then go for a walk or go play basketball or do do something because it glues the information to the brain. Yes. So what kind of schools are eligible to receive the bikes in this program?

SPEAKER_00 9:46

So uh they they may be called under a different name in other schools, but it's under the Title I program. So schools who have at least 40% or higher meeting poverty status are eligible for the program. So in Escambia County, I I did a little research. We have 55 of our 60 schools in this county that are that would be eligible, that have at least 40% of their population falling into that status. Um, I did learn something for our close community. Um many moons ago years, there you parents had to apply. You had to apply for um the free or reduced meal program. Well, with the changing of times and technology as it is, they now do what they call direct certification, which means that if a family, if if my family received any type of social services support, maybe food stamps, I may be, maybe my kid goes, my pre-K kid goes to Head Start. If if their family is in the system through social services, social services and our school district, they they talk to each other, and that information directly certifies them for it certifies them for free and reduced lunch, which is where we get that number, that 40% or higher. And so when you look at our district, 55 of the 60 schools fall in that category.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

You would never guess that. You would not. Because when you go downtown and you look around and everything's so nice and swanky, you know, you would never think that such a high percentage of our schools have 40% or higher students experiencing poverty. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

And so it and and that piece, even though it might not be looked at this way, that piece of the puzzle also plays a part in education. Those students come with something missing a lot of times, whether it's a broken home, I've only got one parent, or maybe I'm homeless, or I'm living with my grandmother and my aunt, and there's 10 kids in the house. And so that is the demographic that all kids bike is looking for, and they want to support and help and facilitate so those kids can also receive and have a part just like anybody else.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

So it's a win.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Oh, it's a huge think-win-win. That's a habit. So we're it's a think-win-win. We win, society wins, community wins. It's fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

I love that. Yes. What percentage of the students at Sherwood are um experiencing poverty? 81%. Holy Moses. Yep. 81%. So very much a deserving school.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Very much so. Very much so.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

So what does something like this mean for the parents of the kids? Because you just mentioned you've, you know, the kids are coming from all these different types of situations. What is it, what's the impact on them?

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Um, I think it allows them. Well, I'll tell this story. So, with Leader and me, one of the things that we try to do is create leaders in our students. So anytime we have at Sherwood any type of event where we have guests on campus, the guests might be district personnel, they might be parents. We have our students lead. So for All Kids Bike, we had lots of guests that day. And we picked a kindergarten student to start the presentation. Oh my gosh. He got up behind the podium and the microphone. He welcomed the guests, he talked about habit number seven and how that we were learning to sharpen the saws so that we could balance our life with our balance bikes. Well, we invited his mother because that's a big deal. My kindergarten kid is talking in front of all these people. And she cried. I mean, I'm tearing up right now. You're tearing up. Yes. She cried. Um, and and I got I had the opportunity to talk to her specifically after the program. Everything's done, and you know, kids are going back to getting ready to dismiss. And and I asked her, I said, I I noticed you tearing up during the presentation. And she said something to the effect of, and I might mince words, but she said, You just never realize what schools do to help your kids grow and learn. She said, It's the little things. She said, It's a bicycle. She said, That's nothing huge, but it's a bicycle. These kids were excited. She said, and my boy, my kid, who I never thought would do anything because of how I was raised and where I am. She said, he was standing up there talking to all these people. She said, he wasn't nervous. She said he had every bit of confidence as the president of the United States. And I said, You're right. And I think, again, I think it's that little piece that these kids are going to learn something that they go home and they can talk to their parents about. It's something their parents understand. It's something their parents can play a part in, but maybe don't always have the right opportunity or the right situation to present it. But if my kids learn how to ride a bicycle at school, I can talk about that. And we can practice that at home. And it gives me as a parent that little bit of, okay, I got this, I can do this. So I it seems so small, but this little bike that's not 48 inches, I mean, they're tiny, could have it really does have a big impact. Our kids talk about it. Our parents, when they come up and pick their kid up that last week, I was working in the front office. The parent came. Our kindergarten has um their special area at the end of the day. Well, I had to call PE because he was in the middle of P. E. Whole class when I call out there, I need so-and-so to check out. Whole class, like, man, he's not gonna get his turn on the bike. Kid comes up to the to the front office, like all pouty, and he's like, Dad, thought you weren't gonna be here till 1.30. And so, you know, he and so the dad's like, I didn't know that I was I was interrupting anything. And the and he said, Dad, I told you we're learning how to ride bikes in PE this week. You can't get me out until 1.30. So the dad was like, he literally like looks at his watch and he said, Well, I mean, you got 15 minutes if you want to go back. So the kid goes back to PE and dad sat in the office and waited until he was done. So it's it really it's little impacts, but it's it's those little things. Dad was willing to wait. Okay, go go have that experience, go do your thing.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

But that kid's not gonna fake sick to not go to school.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

No.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

So I I wonder, you know, the impact on the attendance that's they want to be there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

They and and I think this playing into all the other things that we're trying to do at Sherwood specifically, not just us, but our district and trying to involve the community and get everybody to play a part and you know, come see, watch, visit. We're open, our doors are open. Come see us, let get involved. Um, it the the little things make the big difference.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

I can totally see that. So, how does the program work after the school is selected?

SPEAKER_00 18:10

So there's a there's a lot of phone calls, a lot of planning because there is a there's a big reveal. So once we were selected, um, phone calls back and forth with all kids' bike representatives planning for this big event, um, which only lasted about 10 minutes because you know you're you got five-year-olds in the room. Right. Attention span is tiny. But um there's a lot of planning, but uh a lot of talk with the donor. So HDR Engineering was our local donor here. Um, talk with them about a delivery of the bikes because the company, the way that typically the way that it works, um, it's a I did look it up, I didn't know this. It's a $6,000 one-time donation if a company decides to do it. So if there was a company in Pensacola that wanted to get involved, it's a $6,000 cost. That $6,000 provides 24 balance bikes, 24 helmets, and 24 sets of pedals, along with a teacher bike and helmet, so that she can train and ride along with them. Um, and so once all of the paperwork side of things gets taken care of, the sponsoring business company, entity, whoever they are, um they plan a day for themselves where they actually put together the bikes. So HDR had a Saturday and they came to their office for a couple of hours. They put together the bikes, and then we scheduled a delivery. Um, they built us these beautiful racks to hang them on that are on wheels. And I mean, I guess you expect that from an engineering firm, but that's pretty awesome. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. They called me after the fact. They're like, you know, we were thinking about this, and we didn't pay for the for the storage from because all kids buy, you can do a I think you can add a little extra and they will provide something for storage. They're like, we didn't do that, but we really think that you need it. So would you be okay with it? Yeah, yeah, we'll we'll be okay with that. It's okay. Um, and then once that happens, delivery day and our big reveal actually happened on the same day. It was a huge community turnout. Um, we're not necessarily in the city limits, but the Pensacola Police Department had representatives. The mayor was there. HDR probably had, oh my goodness, 15 people, maybe 20. Um, the sheriff's department was there. We had fire department people there. We had um uh Michelle Salzman sent her representative because she couldn't be there. And so it was just this huge event. Everybody's in the gym. We uh our our kindergarten friend spoke. Um HDR spoke for just a minute, talked about what they do. They're a they're a they're an engineering consulting firm, but they're civil, so their main focus is roadway. And so he talked about what they do in the design of roads and how the bicycles play into what they do, and you can ride bikes on the road and the sidewalks and the rules and the regulations, and that that's what they do. And then at the very end, the mayor got up and spoke um just just for a minute, um, because the kids were getting a little antsy about what was hiding under the big tarp. And um there was a countdown, and the parachute was lifted, and it was like the crowd went wild. The kids were cheering and crying. And clapping and the kids were crying. There were some crying kids, yes. That's so cute. Yes, there were. There were a couple of little girls. They were just so excited they couldn't contain it. Um, and then they actually got to, we we had pre-selected some friends to um demonstrate the bikes. They didn't know what they were demonstrating, they had no idea what they were getting, but there were some pre-selected friends who then were fitted with a helmet and they got to ride a little couple of laps in the gym and the circles with the with the teacher and big picture, and and then everybody left, and it was like, okay, here you go. But the the great other piece about it is um all kids bite provides a curriculum that goes along with the bicycles. Um it typically it's a two to four-week curriculum, but the way our schedule works, it doesn't quite allow for it to be that fast. So our kids will actually be working through this curriculum almost to the end of the school year. There's videos, there's um teacher lesson plans, teacher support. Um, there's uh activities for the kids to do, uh games for them to play as they're riding bikes. And so it's a all around, it's a fantastic program. Like it's fantastic. I wish every school in Escabia, every elementary school could get it in Escabia County.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Oh, it sounds incredible. I mean, from the perspective of a five-year-old, especially, what an impression.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

So do the bikes stay at the school or do the kids get to take them home at the end of the curriculum?

SPEAKER_00 23:45

They stay at the school, so there's so there's only 24. So we do it class by class. So each class as they come, because typically you don't get more than about 20 kids in kindergarten if you do, God bless. But um, and so they do it as they come through. And so we keep the bikes. There's a I think there's a three-year warranty. You'll have to forgive my I think there's a like a three-year warranty if anything happens to to the bike, if something breaks or the pedals get loose or something needs to be fixed. All kids' bikes will either replace the bike or fix the bike. Um and then we have the the the program, the lesson plan guide for as long as we have the bikes. And so if we can make them last 10 years, we keep them for 10 years. And so they stay at the school so that we can use it from year to year to year.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Wow, with all our kids. So if a if a parent is listening to this and they have a connection with a workplace that they think, hmm, I bet my workplace would be interested in donating. Yes. Do you know happen to know what that process looks like?

SPEAKER_00 25:02

It appears very simple. I was actually looking at it again this morning. Um, if you go to All Kids Bike, you are gonna come to a website and there is a spot that says donors. And it is um, it's it's an application, if you will. It's gonna ask you information about your company or you personally. Are you a person? Are you a business? Are you a nonprofit, whatever you are? And it's a it's an application where they're just gonna ask you information, a lot of demographic stuff, the address, phone number, that sort of thing. And then you send it off, and then they contact you. Um, I I believe that I also saw as an individual, if you just want to go on and donate 20 bucks, you can do that. There's a button for that. And um, I did, I'm gonna look at my stats real quick because I did pull something as I was looking at it this morning. It was numbers on um how many students this has touched. So I'm gonna get it up right here. Currently, all 50 states are running the program. Wow. So there's there's an all-kids bike program in all 50 states, 824 schools have been funded. This year, 100,136 students have been impacted. And in the last five years, 500,680 students have been impacted.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Wow. And we're a big state, so it's kind of like, okay, let's get our piece of that for our kids in Escambia County. Yes. And I am gathering that if someone, a parent wants their school to apply to be a recipient for this program, it's just as easy.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

It's just as easy. The same thing. Um, we I actually had to fill out the application. So we were sought out by HDR. They were looking for two schools in the district. Um, our school and Warrington Elementary were the two that were selected. And in order for us to receive the bikes, I had to go in and fill out the application. I think it took me three minutes. Oh, okay. It was basic demographics. Um, as long as the school, if you know your address and phone number and who's in charge and email address, your your pop your poverty level, what is that number? 81% for us. Um, I it took me about three or four minutes to fill out the application and hit send. So it's a they make it very easy. If you are applying and you don't have a donor, it's kind of a waiting game. You just kind of wait. But it's not complicated. But it's not complicated.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

That is so awesome. I'm so glad that we could talk about this because it's just such a feel-good thing, but it's also a huge resource. And you did such a good job of connecting the dots between the importance of bike riding and becoming an awesome member of our community, which is really the goal. It is the goal. Before we wrap up, is there anything else that you want to add about your kids at your school or the the program itself?

SPEAKER_00 28:21

I I am just gonna say that Sherwood is a fantastic school in our community. We've got a great district. Um, I they are all about doing what's in the best interest of our kids. Um, Dr. Smith has done a great job of rallying the troops as far as getting the community more involved. And we are starting to see that filter down into the schools. It's taken a minute, but we're starting to see it. Community, community people are starting to reach out to us. Um, we always reach out. We're we're we're always asking, we're always looking for, hey, we need volunteers or come read to a kid, or you know, we've got this event happening, come help us out. But now we're starting to see the community just kind of they're they're coming in. Hey, we heard about this, or hey, we've got this resource. Would it would it fit in your school? We're right next to Osceola Golf Course. Sherwood is. Um, their new golf pro showed up two weeks ago. Just showed up at school, and he was like, hey, so it's just downtown. We're hearing about some things. Uh, we've got some after-school programs that we do at Osceola Golf Course for the kids. Um, I'm new to it, so I just wanted to reach out and introduce myself and put a plug in, and I'm going to meet the man Friday morning to talk about how we could get involved. So, our district as a whole is doing a really good job of getting those community resources back into the picture, and it's fantastic. Connecting everyone. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

Well, thank you again. This has been fantastic. Okay, glad to be here. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County Public Schools.