A Rainy Day: Safe Routes Philly at Holy Cross School

Date: November 4, 2010
Neighborhood: East Mount Airy
Number of Students: 47

It was a very rainy day with mild weather and cold, cold water drops. But is that enough to keep Safe Routes Philly from teaching a lesson? No way! In reference to getting outside in less than desirable weather, I once heard someone say, “it’s not the weather, it’s the clothing!” What a great statement. It always motivates me to get outside in bad weather. I threw on my warmer gear, tossed in a change of clothes, water proofed everything that came with me, and headed off to Mount Airy!

Riding along the Schuyllkill River Trail is a very interesting experience on bad weather days. There are only a handful of runners and cyclists trudging through the park trying to get through their workout. Giving a fist-pump or some other form of support goes a long way for morale and the return is always a positive response.

I arrived at the door of Holy Cross School with plenty of time to introduce myself, change, and prepare for the first class. Sixth grade had me first. Their voices astounded me.

“Good afternoon class.”

“GOOD AFTERNOON!” They responded. Their volume was loud like a shout, but their expressions conveyed much less effort.

Later on in the lesson, when we discussed how to properly wear a helmet, I first introduced the motto, Eyes, Ears, Mouth to them. I asked them to repeat.

“EYES! EARS! MOUTH!” they shouted.

Their volume is already as high as most classes go. I say, “Louder.”

They went to a whole other level. “EYES!!! EARS!!! MOUTH!!!”

My ears almost popped! I tell their teacher, “This class has some talent!” I hear some students say thank yous in a surprised tone, and then say, “Ok, say it softer!”

They whisper, “eyes…ears…mouth”

My ears are relieved. Lastly, I say “slowly!”

The class goes, “eeeyyyyyeeesss……eeeeaaaaarrrrrssssss…….mmmmoooooooooouuuuuuuutttttttthhhhhhhh….”

I change my pace to a slow-motion robot movement as they say it. The class erupts in laughter. The repetition helps the class remember the material, and the changes in volume and tempo keep it fun.

The fifth grade class was just as fun. Their teacher was able to share a story of her sister who had an a crash while cycling, but because she was wearing a helmet, she survived. There is surely no better connection than when you can make it real.

The teacher also suggested a rather interesting all African-American cycling club known as Bikin’ Blazers. For more information on Bikin’ Blazers, click here!

Special thanks goes out to the 5^th and 6^th grade teachers for welcoming Safe Routes Philly to their classrooms, and a very special thanks goes out to Principal Brian Werner for helping to make it happen. Here’s to 47 more students that are now safer in the streets of Philadelphia!

Ride Safe,
~Cy

Would you like Safe Routes Philly at your school? Lessons are available for FREE to 5th grade classrooms in every Private, Parochial, and Charter School in Philadelphia! If you or someone you know would like us to visit a school, please contact Cy@bicyclecoalition.org. For public elementary schools, we've got a special program that will be coming to your school! Check out our website for more information.

Our website has a new look!! Check it out!

South Street Bridge Outeach

Have you been across the new South Street Bridge?

Since the South Street Bridge opened three weekends ago, the Bicycle Coalition Education team has been ever present on and around the Bridge to talk to riders and encourage them to following the rules of the road. In the opening week of the bridge, our staff stood by the new I-76 Interchange during afternoon rush hour to talk to riders about the bridge and the snazzy new bike lanes, and thank them for stopping at the red light! This new interchange also has a new light signal with many light cycles. Although you may have to wait through a few turn cycles (which is a good thing), bicycles should go when the light is a solid green.

Additionally, a few mornings last week we positioned ourselves on South St., between 26^th and 27^th to try to talk to sidewalk riders and encourage them to access the bridge from the new Lombard buffered bike lanes, or walk their bike on the sidewalk until they reach the bridge. Through these outreach events, we’ve talked to hundreds of riders about bike laws, bike lanes, and Bicycle Coalition!

Our Advocacy staff has also reached out to the Streets Department for additional safety measures on both the bridge and at neighboring intersections.

If you take this route normally (or really any route you normally ride), please encourage your fellow riders to follow the rules of the road. Wait on the reds, ride with traffic and walk your bike on the sidewalks. If you are the first in line at a red light, stop and wait - you may even be surprised how many folks stop behind you! Oh, don't hesitate to thank someone for stopping, it's always nice to have support!

The Bicycle Coalition needs your help to continue to advocate for more facilities - be a role model for other riders and help us lead the charge!

Safe Routes Philly at Girard College

Date: October 21, 2010
Neighborhood: Fairmount
Number of Students: 77

If you’ve ever seen the big walls along Poplar Ave and Girard Ave, and wondered what is inside, it’s a major piece of Philadelphia history known as Girard College. Girard College is a 162 year-old private boarding school dedicated to students from families with limited financial resources, each headed by a single parent or guardian. To learn more about Girard College, click here.

Thanks to Ken Taylor of Athletics and Gary St. Cyr of the Lower School, Safe Routes Philly was cordially invited to present a lesson in bicycle safety to the 5^th and 6^th grade classes!

The experience on a whole was great. Every class had thoughtful questions, enthusiastic expressions, and great behavior. What made this day different from others however was the time I was able to spend with the students outside the classroom. After class and during recess, a few students wanted to talk more about different situations in urban cycling. The teachers spend lunch with the students and are offered a free lunch as an incentive. What a great idea! I was also invited to have lunch with the students. It certainly is a great time to develop stronger relationships with the students. I had great conversations with the students.

Additionally, this school serves healthy food for lunch! Available for the students were a salad bar, turkey burger, sweet potato chips, and a bowl of grapes for snacks. Can it really get any better?

If you haven’t seen this place yet, I highly encourage it! Girard College is available for tours to the public every Thursday between 9am and 3pm.

Here’s to 77 students who are now safer in the streets of Philadelphia!

Ride safe.

~Cy

Lessons are available for FREE to 5th grade classrooms in every Private, Parochial, and Charter School in Philadelphia! If you or someone you know would like us to visit a school, please contact Cy@bicyclecoalition.org. For public elementary schools, we've got a special program that will be coming to your school! Check out our website for more information.

Safe Routes Philly gets a NEW look

Our brand new website is live!

Safe Routes Philly's website holds a lot of information for students, parents and schools. In addition, we have made available, free for download, all of our educational resources including; our pedestrian (2nd grade) and bicycle (5th grade) safety lessons, encouragement activities and activity books. Check out our new educational videos featuring our own Youth Instructor Mr. Cy!


Safe Routes Philly's train the trainer program is made possible by funding from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Sending the Right Signals: Safe Routes Philly at St. Mary's School

Date: October 18, 2010
Neighborhood: Society Hill
Number of students: 51

By the grace of Principal Meredith, Safe Routes Philly was invited to St. Mary’s School to present our lesson in bicycle safety to the fifth and sixth grades.

Many adults that I have spoken to about my role at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia have often mentioned they’re first memories in learning about bicycle safety. Many people remember having a police officer visit their school to teach them bicycle safety when they were kids. These days in Philadelphia, that’s not the case.

Each lesson includes a portion about the hand signals of bicycling which students learn through a game of Simon Says. Before we begin, I go over the left turn signal, then the right turn signal, and lastly, I ask if anyone knows the stop signal. Practically all students put their hand out in front of them, motioning the pedestrian stop signal.

When I let them know that that isn’t the signal, a cloud of confusion stirred the the 5^th grade classroom. The same thing happened in the 6^th grade classroom. It struck me with a little surprise that even the older group didn’t know the hand signals. Later when I reflected on it, I thought about the classes of almost 3,000 children taught since Safe Routes Philly began earlier this year. Of all those children, I can count on only two hands the number of children that knew the hand signals! Safe Routes Philly is a guaranteed resource that shows children throughout Philadelphia how to be safer, responsible riders. For many children, it seems that it might be the only resource that they come across.

I continued on with my lesson, displaying to them the correct way to show the stop sign. We then progressed with a fun game of ‘Simon Says’, allowing students a chance to practice, and remember.

Special thanks goes to Ms. Leone and Mr. Stepnowski for welcoming us to their classrooms, and a very special thanks to Principal Meredith for helping to make it happen. Here’s to 51 more students that are now safer in the streets of Philadelphia.

Ride Safe.

~Cy

Lessons are available for FREE to 5th grade classrooms in every Private, Parochial, and Charter School in Philadelphia! If you or someone you know would like us to visit a school, please contact Cy@bicyclecoalition.org. For public elementary schools, we've got a special program that will be coming to your school! Check out our website for more information.

Healthy Summit 2010

The Campaign for Healthier School’s initiative held a Healthy Summit on November 3^rd at Kensington CAPA High School. Mayor Nutter and Health Commissioner Schwartz both gave opening remarks, each expressing their support for the Campaign and its importance in Philadelphia’s schools.

Safe Routes Philly presented alongside Drew Preston, socialized recess and movement break guru, and Sara Hetrick, representative from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, in two breakout sessions.

Safe Routes Philly's train the trainer program is made possible by funding from the Department of Health and Human Services.

120 + Physical Education Elementary Teachers Trained by Safe Routes Philly!

On Tuesday, November 2^nd, The Safe Routes Philly team presented a professional development workshop in conjunction with the School District of Philadelphia’s Health, Safety, and Physical Education Department.

After three months of focus groups, best practice research, and many rounds of editing, The Safe Routes Philly Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Teacher’s guide was distributed to over 120 physical education teachers in the School District of Philadelphia (all of our materials will be available, free for download, next week on our new website!).

Teachers volunteered to pose as a parked bus that a volunteer (acting as a child) could not see around as she darted into the road to chase a ball. They also gathered on our simulated intersection to act as bicycles, buses, and cars for a simulation that teaches students the concept that bicycles are legal vehicles that must obey traffic laws!

As we invited the teachers to tell us how they would teach the lessons on their own it was evident that they had a lot of creativity and unique resources to offer. One teacher suggested the use of milk crates to construct the intersection, while others were excited at the prospect of using their scooters to simulate vehicles.

Safe Routes Philly is offering four more Professional Developments over the next few months for 2nd grade and 5^th grade classroom and Physical Education teachers. *School District of Philadelphia teachers who attend will receive Act 48 credits. Please register through PD Planner.

· November 17^th , 4:30 – 7PM, High School of the Future

· December 7^th, 4:30 – 7PM, Fels High School

· January 12^th, 4:30 – 7PM, High School of the Future

· January 24th, 4:30 – 7PM, Fels High School

Safe Routes Philly's train the trainer model is made possible by funding from the

Department of Health and Human Services.

Easy as ABC Quick Check: Safe Routes Philly at The Philadelphia School

Date: October 5, 2010
Neighborhood: Fitler Square
Number of students: 63 students

On a drizzly Tuesday, Safe Routes Philly was invited to bring our bicycle safety lesson to the 5th grade of The Philadelphia School! With a location that is merely minutes from Fairmount Park and the Spruce/Pine Bike lines, I was not surprised to find such a bicycle friendly community.
I taught two wonderful 5th grade classes. The students were a very positive, respectful, and playful bunch. One or two students actually had some parents involved with local bike shops in the city!

In the lesson, one of the things I do is teach my students how to check their bike before they ride. The motto we use is called “ABC Quick Check”. A stands for Air, B Brake, C is Chain, Quick stands for the Quick Release, and the last thing the overall Bike Check. We go through a very thorough dialogue about each part, and I demonstrate with my bike. Then I ask them how fast it takes to perform an ABC Quick Check. Responses from students are “5 minutes! 10 minutes! 1 hour!!” I then ask my student volunteer to count Mississippi’s starting from one.

“Ready, set, GO!”

The student begins the count. “one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi…”
I check the air, then the brakes, then the chain, the quick releases, and finally the overall bike check. I turn to the student, “Stop! How long did that take?”

“10 seconds!” she says.

“It took ten seconds to do the whole ABC Quick Check! Do you all think that you can take a few seconds before you ride to check your bike before you ride?”

The response from the class is a resounding YES.

Special thanks goes out to the teachers and administrators who were so gracious to welcome Safe Routes Philly to their school, and a special thanks to Mr. Dan Lai for helping to schedule a date and time. Here’s to 63 more students who are now safer in the streets of Philadelphia!

Ride safe,
~Cy

Lessons are available for FREE to 5th grade classrooms in every Private, Parochial, and Charter School in Philadelphia! If you or someone you know would like us to visit a school, please contact Cy@bicyclecoalition.org. For public elementary schools, we've got a special program that will be coming to your school! Check out our website for more information