A Bicycle Rodeo at Williard Elementary

Bicycle Rodeos are one of the many ways our Safe Routes Philly program brings bicycle education to Philadelphia elementary school students.  A bicycle rodeo is a fun skill-building event where children learn and practice bicycle skills like signaling, weaving, and quick stops.  Safe Routes Philly staff Megan, Emily and Cy conducted a rodeo at Williard Elementary School in Kensington on April 27th.

Williard is an elementary school which takes its students' health and fitness seriously.  Thanks in large part to the efforts of PE teacher Debra DeShields, Williard hosts a 'Turn Off the TV Week', an annual Walk to School Day, and PACES (Parents And Children Exercising Simultaneously).  The rodeo was part of Turn Off the TV Week.

The rodeo took place after school with 15 students and the assistance of Debra DeShields, plus one staff and one parent volunteer.  Our Community Reps had to move the rodeo indoors as a tremendous thunderstorm drenched the area with rodeo-discouraging wind and rain.



A child navigating the Snake Pit

The children, however, were far from discouraged by the deluge.  One student walked home in the rain to retrieve his permission slip!  Students use their own bikes for the rodeo, which allows them to build confidence on the bike they will ride outside of school.  Our staff also perform equipment checks, and one bicycle's brakes were too loose to use (that child learned about the importance of bike tuneups, and shared a bike with another student).

The rodeo stations that Wednesday were a turtle race (balancing at slow speeds), signaling exercise, snake pit (maneuvering and weaving drill) and an education station (labeling parts of a bike).  The rodeo lasted one hour.

The children had a blast and gained valuable two-wheeled confidence, but the parent volunteer on hand also came away more confident.  She told Megan that watching her son move through the exercises made her feel better about him biking home and around the neighborhood.

The Williard Elementary rodeo posse

The Bicycle Coalition's Safe Routes Philly program has at least ten more rodeos scheduled for this summer.  If you are interested in bringing a rodeo to your school or community, check our our resources page.