It’s May, and that means The Rocky River Bike to School Challenge is back. Between May 5 and May 23, students at the middle school are encouraged to bike to school to promote their own health and the health of the environment.
This is the fourth year the school has participated in the challenge, which is sponsored by Century Cycles. The event kicked off with a bike fair, where employees from Century Cycles offered tune-ups and residents were able to register their bikes and get licenses.
During the three weeks of the challenge, middle school students who ride to school can check in at a Century Cycle tent set up on the school grounds. On certain days, students who check in can receive certificates from local sponsors—including Honey Hut, Yogurt Plus and Subway—for prizes. Every 4 days of riding gets a student entered into a Grand Prize Raffle to win Raleigh bikes, bike gear, and gift cards at a wrap-up assembly on May 23.
Four days of riding also qualifies a student to receive an official Bike to School shirt. This year’s shirt features a stylized root system growing into a tree that resembles a bike sign. The shirt was designed by 8th grader Joey Nanni.
Wendy Crites, who teaches Health and Fitness Education at Rocky River Middle School, notes that there are three main incentives for the school to encourage students to participate in the Bike to School Challenge. First, she says, is that the three-week challenge is long enough to create a bike-riding habit—a healthy habit that can help combat childhood obesity. Second, Ms. Crites notes, “the environmental impacts are huge,” with last year’s challenge preventing an estimated 16,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the environment. (On average during the challenge weeks, around 50% of the students bike to the middle school.)
And finally, biking to school gives the students a chance to develop their problem-solving and responsibility skills while fostering independence. All this benefits the middle schoolers’ learning, Ms. Crites notes, because “active children can better focus and therefore better learn.”
Keep an eye out for the increased number of bicyclists in Rocky River over the coming weeks and, if the challenge is a success, for the rest of the school year and summer as well.