Heading South! Safe Routes Philly in South and Southwest Philadelphia

Safe Routes Philly had the pleasure of being invited to three schools in South and Southwest Philadelphia and had very interesting experiences from each. The three schools are Sharswood Elementary, McDaniel Elementary, and Mitchell Elementary, which will be posted in a separately.

Sharswood Elementary

Students: 121 Students (4^th & 5^th Grade)

Date: May 7, 2010

Neighborhood: Whitman (South Philly)

Sharswood Elementary is located in the far southeast corner of South Philly. Principal Skalski paired us with their two fourth grade classes and two fifth grade classes. Sharswood is one of a number of schools in Philadelphia that received a grant from the national Safe Routes to School Program in order to create safe walking and biking routes for their students. The school nurse, Lynette Lazarus, took charge in coordinating the planning event and invited us to participate. Kudos to Ms. Lazarus!

All lessons went very well. However, I realized quite soon that Friday + Late afternoon + Water Ice = HIGH ENERGY. Nonetheless, the last class revealed some interesting dynamics. This class had me until the bell rang. As students left, a few stayed behind to say “thank you”. There was a brief silence from them as I was gathering my things, and one student gathered the courage to ask a question on her mind.

“Do you think kids can stop racism?” she quietly asked. The three students looked at me with deep concern.

“Absolutely!” I responded. “Why do you ask?”

They told me about an argument between her friends and a group of other classmates, and how it led to racist comments.

I responded by suggesting to try to ignore what people say, “You do you,” I said. I also suggested having a teacher or administrator mediate the situation. After a few minutes, we said our goodbyes and our thank yous.

I was very surprised that they felt the urge to talk to me about that before their return home. Before leaving for the day, I informed their teacher of our discussion.

What an eye-opener it has been to see how prevalent racism still is after all these years, more so in some areas of Philly than in others. Haven’t we learned from the past?

Mitchell Elementary

Students: 92 students (5^th grade)

Date: May 14, 2010

Neighborhood: Kingsessing (Southwest Philly)

My first bike ride to Southwest Philadelphia was thanks to our lessons at Mitchell Elementary School on Kingsessing Ave. The ride along Grays Ferry Ave. was much safer than I had expected, and I was excited to find Bartram’s Gardens, the hidden jewel of Philadelphia and a beautiful waypoint along the proposed extensions of the Schuylkill River Trail.

Over 90 fifth grade bike riders, in three classes, gained new knowledge in bicycling safely. The Mitchell students were quite fun, and they posed some great questions. During some downtime between classes, one person made a comment I will never forget. She looked at me and said, “You look like you really love your job.”

I exclaimed, “I DO!” It’s motivating to know that people can recognize that.

A special thanks goes out to the teachers and administrators of Sharswood Elementary School and Mitchell Elementary School for allowing Safe Routes Philly some class time, and a VERY special thanks goes out to Principals Skalski and Haltie for helping us make it happen! 213 more students are now safer in the streets of Philadelphia!

Ride Safe,

~Cy

Want to get involved? We need volunteers! If you’re interested, please contact Joshua Willis at joshua@bicyclecoalition.org.