CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A West Side elementary school has a new fleet of bikes to help students learn how to ride.
Staff at Leif Ericson Academy revealed the bikes to the kindergarteners they’ll be using during gym class.
“Students were super excited,” reading interventionist Elise Greene-Williams told WBBM. “You heard some students, like, ‘Oh I know how to ride a bike.’ But [for] many of them, that was the first time that they were able to get on a bike. They were doing well, doing well with the balance.”
Greene-Williams said she applied for the grant from the All Kids Bike program. Engineering consulting firm HDR donated money to supply the West Side school with 24 Strider bikes that teach balance as well as pedal kits, helmets, storage and more.
The bikes will provide lessons for students at Leif Ericson Academy well beyond the classroom, said reading interventionist Elise Greene-Williams.
“[They will] put less of a carbon footprint and help them with their physical and mental health,” she said.
Greene-Williams said they’re hoping to gift the bikes to students when they graduate from kindergarten.
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