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Midway Hills Primary School’s kindergarten students are participating in a learn-to-ride pilot program through CREATE In-School Cycling.
The Center for Recreation Education Arts Technology and Enterprise (CREATE, Inc.) is a nonprofit organization that provides programs to vulnerable and underserved populations within Middle Georgia. CREATE Inc. was originally eCampus Club Milledgeville and had a core focus on arts-based education. However, in 2010, the organization decided to expand into music and recreation programs and established itself as a separate nonprofit.
CREATE In-School Cycling is one of their recreational health initiative programs. In Baldwin County, it was started in partnership between CREATE Inc. and the Baldwin County Board of Education. The program works to improve the opportunities for children to succeed and thrive in the sport of cycling later in life.
“We are a local nonprofit organization and are excited to be working with our community to improve health and promote cycling,” said Toyia Barnes, program director of CREATE Inc.
Once a week, during physical education periods, kindergartners will be introduced to the bikes. They will begin by using balancing bikes (bikes without pedals) to teach balance and confidence. The goal is after five sessions, students will have the ability to balance on their bikes and transition into pedal bikes.
“They begin with different movements and games to learn to balance. Then, they will learn how to glide and later transition into pedaling,” said Barnes. “However, balancing is the core of the curriculum because once they learn how to balance, then they quickly learn everything else.”
According to a press release, the program helps to improve gross motor skills by working on coordination, endurance and strengthening. This is done inside and outside the classroom. Instructors send home a review of what the children learned each week and offer instructions to the parents on how to build these skills at home.
“By being in this program, we are giving them the opportunity to ride and be healthy. As such, it helps to increase ridership and encourage them to be mobile and outside more often,” said Barnes.
When students graduate from the program, they will receive certificates of completion. In addition, students can continue to build and retain the skills learned by joining CREATE Inc.’s out-of-school cycling club.
“Students can continue to cycle with us through our out-of-school club. We have bikes within our program that the students can continue to use,” said Barnes.
The nonprofit provides students with balance bikes, helmets and training. These materials were donated by Community Baptist Church, GCSU’s Center for Health and Social Issues, and another nonprofit organization known as Outride.
According to Outride’s website, “From our institutional and applied research, we know bicycles have a positive impact on cognitive, emotional and physical well-being. Because of this, over the past few years, we’ve brought this concept to life by working with schools across the United States to create cycling programs.”
CREATE In-School Cycling in Baldwin County is currently in its pilot phase. Kindergartners were chosen because, according to Barnes, statistically the younger a person learns to ride, the more frequently they will ride later in life.
“The statistics for the number of kids no longer riding bikes over the last 10 years has been at a startling decline,” said Barnes. “If we can teach every kindergartner how to ride a bike, look at what it would do for our national health.”