After a months-long process, including assembly, Powell elementary school students can now be seen learning to ride bikes on the school grounds. Some zip around while others take the turns a little slower, but they all have grins on their faces.

“I have students who are in third, fourth, fifth grade, who were unable to ride a bicycle,” said Luke Robertson, Westside Elementary School PE teacher. “And so it's like there's this need here. We're in this position as elementary PE teachers to be able to do something about that — to be able to teach every kid how to ride a bike.”

The idea was planted about a year ago when the PE teacher at Glenn Livingston Elementary School in Cody reached out, Robertson said. The teacher mentioned a donor who had purchased Strider bikes for Cody elementary schools.

“So that's kind of what kicked off the idea for me, Waleryan [Wisniewski] and then Celina [Felton] at the time … But it was that idea of bicycling with kindergartners, first graders, teaching them how to bicycle,” Robertson said.

Robertson worked with Jason Sleep, the district’s assistant superintendent, in order to obtain both the bikes and find storage. The bikes were paid for using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.

It was easier to source the bikes than it was to find a place to store them. Eventually it was decided to purchase a trailer that could be stored at the bus barn and taken to each school to load and unload bikes as needed. The trailer was purchased thanks to community sponsors including Whitlock Motors, Sew Much More, Westside PTG, Southside PTG, Parkside PTG, Whittle, Hamilton, and Associates, Hunter Clean Care, Agri Industries, Powell Rotary, SBW, Ryno’s Rentals and PVCE-BOCES.

Donors who contributed $500 or more got their logo on the trailer.

In late March, sponsors, teachers and community members rallied to build the tiny, pedal-less bikes and their accessories while enjoying some pizza and good company. Then the bike unit was ready to begin. The bikes came with curriculum which Robertson is using as the foundation of his lesson plan and modifying as needed. This year he’s including second graders in order to also be able to catch that age group.

“The program is really designed for kindergarten. That's kind of what it's what they're really targeting. But I think there's no reason we shouldn't also do first grade … but I wanted to be able to catch the second graders this year,” Robertson said.

The first time around for any lesson involves coming up with the best plan possible and adjusting as needed, he added.

PCSD1’s other elementary PE teachers, Aubrie Stenerson and Wisniewski, have also begun their units with thanks to the community, sponsors and Robertson.

At Parkside Elementary, Stenerson’s students have grown in their confidence on a bike, although she’s had to reassure students that their feet are always touching the ground. At the time of the interview they had begun to use pedals on their bikes, and have done quite a bit of outdoor lessons. The key is to ease them in and work on their balance, she said.

Wisniewski is also easing students into the new program.

“I think this year, I'm still figuring it out. And I think that it's going to be beneficial to a lot of kids and helping them to participate in a lifelong activity of riding a bike,” Wisniewski said, adding, “We'll just have to kind of see how it builds. It's all new to me. So I'm just kind of going along and seeing how it all works.”