All Kids Bike Learn To Ride Kindergarten PE Program

All Kids Bike is a national movement to place Learn-To-Ride Kindergarten PE Programs into elementary schools using donations from individuals, businesses, and organizations.  Its mission is to see every child in America learn how to ride a bike in kindergarten PE class.

Program benefits are many, important and tangible. Bike riding is a key developmental milestone for children and an essential life skill that provides numerous benefits for fitness, mental health, exercise and transportation. Learning how to ride in Kindergarten aids in the development of gross motor skills, judgment and confidence. Teaching children how to ride bicycles at a young age, using Strider balance bikes, minimizes fear and removes the stress of learning as an older child or adult. 

Bike Friendly Kalamazoo serves as the program’s local ambassador.  We provide encouragement, information and help secure funding for the more than 40 kindergartens in our service area.  This includes all the kindergartens in Kalamazoo County, Lawton, Mattawan and Paw Paw, public and private.  Through our Education Committee we work in concert with educators, administrators and members of the community.

Indian Lake Elementary Kindergarten in Vicksburg Community Schools – 1st in our area

About The All Kids Bike Learn To Ride Program
All Kids Bike equips schools with everything needed to get their students rolling. The program includes everything needed to teach hundreds of students at a school for 7-10 years: teacher training and certification, a fleet of 24 bikes, pedal conversion kits, helmets, an instructional bike for the teacher, 2 rolling metal bike storage racks, and access to a resource portal and live support for the life of the program.  Learn more about the program on All Kids Bike’s FAQ page.

Local Schools Adopting The Learn To Ride Kindergarten PE Program
Amberly Elementary – Portage Public Schools
Climax-Scotts Elementary – Climax-Scotts Community Schools
Edison Environmental Academy – Kalamazoo Public Schools
Haverhill Elementary – Portage Public Schools
Indian Lake Elementary – Vicksburg Community Schools
King-Westwood Elementary – Kalamazoo Public Schools
Milwood Elementary – Kalamazoo Public Schools
Portage Central Elementary – Portage Public Schools
Schoolcraft Elementary – Schoolcraft Community Schools
Starting Point Preschool – Center Point Church
Washington Writers Academy – Kalamazoo Public Schools
Woodland Elementary – Portage Public Schools

Process Outline
From BFK’s perspective, we typically follow these general steps to advance this wonderful program.  

  1. Informal recommendations of potential kindergartens. Our eyes and ears are open! Suggestions typically come from the greater community or schools.
  2. Informal outreach and information exchange with recommended schools.  We help schools navigate the All Kids Bike information site and connect them with our counterparts at the Strider Education Foundation.
  3. School representative completes All Kids Bike Application, keeping BFK informed as to when application is posted to the public list of schools seeking donations and funding.
  4. If the school ask for BFK’s help and agrees to cooperate in that effort, we apply for grants to raise the funds via philanthropic sources.
  5. Implementation, Engagement and Celebration. These steps will naturally unfold once funds are raised, bikes arrive, the program is implemented, and progress is celebrated!

 

BFK’s Education Committee
BFK’s Art Committee is chaired by Bronson Children’s Hospital’s Childhood Injury Prevention Coordinator, Emma Youngs. Members of our Education Committee are volunteers from a number of schools, bike shops and clubs. The committee’s work is anticipated to be strategic and ongoing throughout the coming years as more and more local elementary schools her about the Learn To Ride Kindergarten PE Program.  

Role in Placemaking
Placemaking has been defined as a collaborative process for working together to shape our public realm, strengthening the connection between people and the places they share. Schools have long been recognized as a key element of what makes community a great place to live, work, play and learn.  

Bike Friendly Kalamazoo believes in the power of improving the quality of life and building community through bicycling. 

We are in this together. We regularly recognize the schools and individuals who are working to make the All Kids Bike program a reality. Key milestones are announced during Kalamazoo Area Bike Week and quarterly meetings of the Bike Program Steering Committee, via our website and postings on social media. 

With your help we can bring a little more joy, and a feeling of festive lightness, into our hearts, brightening the corner in which we live.

We invite private property owners, municipalities, patrons of public art, civic leaders — and all those interested in improving the quality of life in our community — to watch this space for unfolding details.

Please share your ideas for schools and sources of financial support using our Contact Us page.

In the meantime, thank you for everything you are doing to help make our greater community even more bicycle friendly!

Learn more about Bike Friendly Kalamazoo’s Goals and Programs here.

Please like and follow our Facebook pages @bikefriendlykalamazoo, @kalamazoobikeweek, @fallbikecelebration, and on the web at www.bikefriendlykalamazoo.org, www.kalamazoobikeweek.org and www.fallbikecelebration.org.

Thanks to institutional supporters and Friends of BFK.
 We will forever be grateful to The Vicksburg Foundation, the League of Michigan Bicyclists, the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club, the Marvin and Rosalie Okun Foundation and the Dorothy U. Dalton Foundation and the City of Portage for their role role in making the program possible in its earliest years of local adoption.  Donations from the Friends of Bike Friendly Kalamazoo also play a vital role!