BikeEd at school


Update: Due to a slowdown in paperwork, we won’t be doing the on-street BikeEd this coming week, but will be adding a third week of schoolyard bike skills development. Volunteers are still welcome, and you won’t need any prior training. It is a great chance to find out more about what the district PE Specialists and the Safe Routes to School program are doing with kids, and we will need volunteers for the next two pilot schools (Fritsch and Fremont) in the spring.
Mark Twain Elementary School is piloting a third week of BikeEd this fall, adding a day of on-street riding for 5th grade students. We will be riding on nearby low-traffic streets, practicing the basics of lanes positioning, scanning, signaling, and right hand turns. To do this, we need at least four adults on each ride. PE Specialist Colleen Katen and myself (Dan Allison) are two of those, so we need two more for each class session. The classes are from 9:25 to 10:10 on Monday through Friday.
We are planning for this coming week, September 27-30, however, we do not have enough volunteers yet, so may delay one or two weeks, to October 4-7 or October 11-14.
We’d like you to volunteer! We’ll accept as little as one day, though of course we’d like more. What do you need? A working bike, a helmet, and training. A training session of about one hour will be scheduled at a time that works for you, which could be during the school day, afternoon, or early evening. Of course we’d like to schedule one session that works for everyone, but recognize that may not be possible. In addition, we’ll give you a DVD to watch at home that has an 11-minute video (and more, if you are interested). If you have been through Traffic Skills 101 or an equivalent course, you can skip the training session and DVD.
In order to volunteer, you must either be already signed up with the district as a volunteer and have completed fingerprinting and a background check, or you must have initiated that process before you volunteer. You can pick up a volunteer packet from any Carson City School District school, though since one page needs to be returned to Mark Twain, it would be easiest to pick one up from there and fill out that one page immediately. You must fill out several forms, get fingerprinted at the Sheriff’s Office (901 E Musser St) or the district office (1402 W King St), and turn your forms into the district office. There will be a fee for the fingerprint cards, which you will be reimbursed for.
Interested? Please contact Dan Allison immediately with questions: 775-997-4937, srts.carson *at* gmail.com.