299 public and non-public elementary schools in North Dakota will have the opportunity to receive the All Kids Bike Learn-to-Ride Kindergarten PE Program.
Lisa Weyer is Executive Director of the Strider Education Foundation. She says her foundation runs the All Kids Bike program, which gives around 10 thousand kids throughout the country the opportunity to learn to ride a bicycle each year.
"We are reaching out to North Dakota schools and letting them know about the program and getting their interest. Then we can provide them that teacher training that I spoke about and then we ship the bikes. It probably takes the total of about 3 to 5 weeks to get that whole program into the school."
The All Kids Bike Program provides up to 24 Strider bikes, pedal conversion kits, helmets, a teacher instruction bike, rolling metal bike storage racks, a curriculum, and teacher training for each school. The class takes 8 lessons to complete.
Weyer says the program is about more than just teaching kindergarteners to ride a bike.
"We have teacher testimonial that talk about the transformation it gives to kids. It's more than just teaching the child how to ride a bike, it provides confidence, it reduces stress, it helps them focus better in school with their math class or reading class. They get to have a little energy and do something that they enjoy, it makes them want to come to school. We've had teachers tell us that that before the bike program came into schools, their attendance records were pretty low and once the bikes came, the kids just wanted to attend school to ride the bikes."
Each fleet of bikes has at least a decade-long lifespan, giving potentially hundreds of kindergarten students per school the opportunity to learn to ride.