Sunday, June 6th - Radnor Bike Safety Fair!

Calling all kids, families, and interested bicyclists to come learn and test your bike safety skills at the Radnor Bike Safety Fair!! We will feature a bike rodeo where you can test your skills with balance, speed, and signaling, to see if you are trail - and neighborhood - road ready. We will also offer bicycle inspections, helmet fitting, free licenses, and MORE!

YOUR OWN BIKE AND HELMET ARE REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE.

When: June 6th, 1-3pm

Where: Wayne Art Center Parking Lot

(If it is raining, the event will be cancelled.)

Please pre-register at Radnor.conservancy@comcast.net so we can get an idea of how many people plan to come. However non - registered participants are definitely welcome as well!

Event is sponsored by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the Radnor Conservancy.

The Silver Lining: Safe Routes Philly at McDaniel Elementary School

Students: 94 students (5^th grade)

Date: May 18^th, 2010

Neighborhood: Point Breeze

It was a Tuesday and also an Election Day, and students had a delayed opening for the occasion. On top of that, the students also had an afternoon assembly. Due to all the changes from a normal day with summer coming ‘round the corner’, it was difficult to keep students focused on any lesson, even if it was about bicycles. All of these factors made for a very challenging day.

Now, normally I have a schpiel that I say when a class isn’t focusing on the lesson. I stop where I am in the lesson and say (rather sternly) that I am here by the grace of the principal and their teacher, because we all feel that this is something important for them to know. I then continue, “but if YOU don’t want me here…I can leave. If you want me here, I’ll stay, but for that I’ll need some respect. What do you want me to do?” I wait for a response. In the past, students have always asked me to stay.

That little bit has usually been enough to get the class back in order. I had said this at least once in so many different schools already – Sharswood, Mitchell, Independence, Academy in Manayunk, Franklin, Hackett, Welsh – and it was very effective in every single one.

On this day, however, it did not work.

The first class couldn’t get settled.

The second class tried harder…but still challenging.

I wondered to myself, “why am I still here?” and sat down in a desk feeling deflated. I sat down with the teacher of the second class for a lunch break before beginning my next class. I asked for feedback and how I could make it better. “We’re all trying to figure that one out,” she remarked. In our conversation, I learned that many students in McDaniel go through much more than anyone should at home and in their neighborhood. That helped me to understand that a bad lesson wasn’t my fault, nor was it the children’s. I just needed to work harder on the next one.

When it was time for the third class to begin, I was determined to make it a good one. I immediately rearranged the desks into a circle. As soon as the students walked in, I handed them a questionnaire and told them to have a seat in the circle so that we could begin. It was already going smoother than the other classes.

I tried every strategy I possibly could to help keep this class focused. I moved the leaders who distracted students and gave rewards – temporary helmet tattoos – to those that were doing what I wanted them to do. I kept checking in on them by asking them to clap if they could hear me, and I brought students up to participate and help me with the lesson. Now, even though there were still a few groups of students who talked non-stop, students and staff that were constantly walking in and out of the room, and a fight between two girls that almost ensued, I still managed to do more in this class than the first two!

I returned to the office feeling like I ran the Broad Street Run a second time. I was tired, worn, and dispirited. But as I glanced through the questionnaires from the day, I found a silver lining.

There was one paper with a message written in pink marker at the bottom. The message in big round letters said, “I had learned many new things.”

That one message made all the work worthwhile.

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

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.

A lockdown, a lesson in Spanish, and a BLAST(off): Safe Routes Philly at Independence Charter School

Students: 84 Students (5^th Grade)

Date: Monday, April 26 and Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Philly Neighborhood: Rittenhouse Square

Sometimes you can walk into a school and see how special it is right from the start. Independence Charter School is one of those schools.

Safe Routes Philly had a fabulous experience at Independence Charter School.

We taught two classes of fifth grade students and two classes of fourth grade students. All classes have been incredibly supportive. One teacher in particular shaped the attitudes of her students into an incredibly positive and supportive environment. The students would cheer for each other when their classmate was selected to volunteer in the lesson, and at the end of class, I received an enormous salute in which the entire fourth grade class would shoot their little hands and fingers into the air and shout in unison, “Blast off!!” It was cosmic and remains a lasting impression in my mind.

Another interesting event on the second day was when one of our lessons was conducted in Spanish by our very own bilingual educator and Assistant Director, Diana Owens.

If you’ve ever travelled to another country, then you would’ve experienced the situation of being immersed in a culture speaking a foreign language. You’re put into a situation where you are forced to learn and try this new language. It’s a high learning curve. Some students at Independence Charter School have been placed in a similar situation since their early years – a Spanish immersion class. I was pleasantly surprised, not only by the students’ fluency in the language, but also to see such a widely diverse classroom community from many different ethnic backgrounds; not just for recent Hispanic immigrants, which is common to see in many other schools. Diana had great discussions with the students on biking safely in Philadelphia.

A special thanks goes out to the teachers of Independence Charter School for allowing Safe Routes Philly some class time, and a VERY special thanks goes out to Teacher Martha for helping us make it happen! Here’s to 84 more students who are now safer in the streets of Philadelphia.

Ride Safe,

~Cy

Bike Month Photo Contest: Best Photo From Your Ride or Commute!

One of the benefits of biking that we often talk about is that it gives you time to appreciate your surroundings, whether you're commuting to work or taking a weekend ride. It's easier to observe the natural environment and urban landscape your passing through. And then, it's also easy to hop off your bike to take a photo!

We'd like to celebrate the great sights of the Greater Philadelphia area from a bike, by asking you to submit your best photos from your bike ride or commute! The Top 3 photographers will receive prizes, and all of our entrants will be featured on our Facebook Page and blog.

Here are the rules:
1. Any photo that you saw or got to by bike qualifies. It could be part of your commute, while you were riding to your friend's house, a weekend ride, or whatever. It could be a landscape, an event, an action scene, anything!
2. How will we know you biked there? Your bike, or a part of it, must be into the picture. It doesn't have to be the center of attention, just somehow be in the shot. See example below.
3. Photos must be from the Greater Philadelphia Area (The 5 counties of Southeastern PA, and our 4 counties in Southern NJ).

Please submit your photos to max@bicyclecoalition.org, along with your name and the location of the photo(s). You can submit as many photos as you want. Winners will be announced at the end of the Month along with the Commuter Challenge.

Max's example of an eligible photo, from 23rd St. between Market and JFK.


Fine print: By submitting your photos, you give the Bicycle Coalition permission to use those photos.