Revolutions Bicycle Ambassadors at Peabody Elementary School

Revolutions Bicycle Cooperative works to get more people of all ages on bicycles.  We want to help Peabody Elementary school children, and their families, use bicycles for transportation to school.  We believe that riding bicycles rather than riding in cars to school will lead to healthier, more active children.

Revolutions will partner with our neighborhood school, Peabody Elementary, to train children as Bicycle Ambassadors. In our pilot year, sixteen Bicycle Ambassadors will be selected to:

• receive recycled bicycles that have been refurbished by Revolutions, plus new helmets and sturdy bicycle locks.
• complete a series of safety workshops and street riding skill training (conducted by Revolutions).
• begin bicycling to school.

The Ambassadors will:

• come from the 4^th and 5^th grades.
• be a 50/50 mix of boys and girls.
• be selected, in consultation with the school principal and teachers.

After training, the Ambassadors will work with Revolutions to help develop, promote and assist in leading:

• after-school group bicycle rides with their classmates, during the second semester.
• a neighborhood Bike Rodeo, in the spring.
• Bicycle “Trains” to School during Bike Month (May).

In order for more children to ride to school, Peabody Elementary needs better and sturdier bicycle racks:

• In September, Revolutions performed a bicycle parking assessment, and made recommendations to Peabody Elementary Principal Nelson.
• Those recommendations will be used to obtain permission from the school district to install and locate appropriate additional racks, which will be furnished by Revolutions as part of the Bicycle Ambassadors project.

September 2015

• Revolutions Completed Bicycle Parking Assessment

1^st Semester, 2015

• Revolutions volunteers refurbishing 16 bicycles for use by Bicycle Ambassadors

November 4 – December 20

• ioby campaign

January/February 2016

• Safety Workshops and Bicycle Rodeo for Bicycle Ambassadors
• New Bicycle racks purchased and installed at Peabody Elementary
• Ambassadors Celebration Day: Revolutions hosts a community group ride to celebrate the Ambassadors’ completion of the safety training program

February-April 2016

• Twice monthly club meeting for Bicycle Ambassadors to practice riding in a group setting, after school

April 2016

• Bicycle Ambassadors and Revolutions co-host a community-wide Bike Rodeo

May 2016

• Bicycle Ambassadors and Revolutions to coordinate and lead Bike Trains to school (as a Bike Month activity) to encourage others to try riding to school.
• Complete an end of year, 2-day tally, of how students arrived at school (to evaluate bicycle education effectiveness)

“It has been demonstrated that physical activity in the day of a child contributes to better overall health^1,2, further activity³, effective learning, and the ability to stay on task⁴. Walking and bicycling are good for children, yet surveys show that active transportation has become less prevalent. With the decline of bicycling and walking to school in the last few decades, many students of this generation are missing the opportunity to explore the world through diverse means. For the first time in human history, this generation may live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents.”

Students who are comfortable and adept at bicycling to school could also perform well in the Shelby County Schools’ Destination 2025 (The 80-90-100 plan: http://www.scsk12.org/uf/webadmin/foundation/2025/). The Revolutions Bicycle Ambassadors focuses on this year’s 4^th and 5^th graders (the classes of 2024 and 2023, respectively). The students who work to be Bicycle Ambassadors will arrive at school ready to learn thanks to their active ride to school. Arriving ready to learn results in good performance in school, at the elementary level. A solid foundation in elementary school will help children continue performing strongly throughout school. And that will allow them to “be on track to learn in a post-secondary classroom or enter the workforce straight out of high school…earn their high school diploma…(and be) college- or career-ready graduate[s] in the class of 2025 [who] will enroll in a post-secondary opportunity”