Lakeview Elementary School kindergarteners started a two-part biking unit in December and will pick up in the spring when they can continue building their skills outside in warmer weather.
Lakeview Elementary School kindergarteners started a two-part biking unit in December and will pick up in the spring when they can continue building their skills outside in warmer weather.
Lakeview Elementary School kindergarteners have been zipping up and down the halls as part of a unit in their physical education classes where they learn how to ride a bicycle.
The two-part biking unit began in December and will pick up in the spring when they can continue building their skills outside in warmer weather.
After putting on their bicycle helmets and adjusting their bike seats, they practiced balance by first walking with bikes, then putting their feet on the pedal pegs and gliding.
“We’re starting to get the students used to the ability of balancing on a bicycle without the pedals,” physical education teacher Allen Iversen said. “Our goal is, in the spring, to have pedals on about 50% of the bikes so students can experience the bikes with the pedals.”
“These are balance bikes, so you have to put your feet over and then walk. You have to try to go fast to get your balance. If you try to put up both your feet when you’re not moving, you’ll probably fall,” said kindergarten student, Jaeger Mauland.
The 24 balance bikes, one adult bike and the curriculum was paid for with donations and a grant from All Kids Bike.
“We applied for a grant three years ago through All Kids Bike,” said Lakeview Elementary principal Pete Otterson. “We were lucky to get people who helped donate money to this program. We had private donors do it and All Kids Bike pitched in some money to ensure that we could bring this program to our school.”
The school received the bikes at the end of the 2021-22 school year. Fifth-grade students helped assemble the bikes so they would be ready for this year’s kindergarteners. The former fifth-graders had their names placed on the bike they built so they would have a lasting legacy.
This year’s fifth-graders will reassemble half of the bikes to install pedals in the spring. They will also be working with the kindergarteners one-on-one.
“Each kindergartener will be buddied up with a fifth-grader who will then help them balance and be by their side to keep them safe,” Otterson said. “I think teaching biking here in school is a must because, number one, it’s a blast. There’s also just the love of riding and being able to socialize with your friends and getting outside. Most importantly, it’s about making sure all of our kindergarteners get the opportunity to learn how to ride.”
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