It’s all about safety first at Nooksack Valley elementary schools, and that includes on bicycles. In a partnership with the Northwest Educational Service District 189 and Cascade Bicycle Club, the elementary schools at Nooksack Valley Schools are running a bicycle and pedestrian safety education program for students in grades three through five.
 
The fleet of bikes and helmets arrived at the schools on Jan. 7 and students have already started participating in a multi-week program during physical education class to learn safety skills, whether walking or rolling. 
 
Shannon Buckley, P.E. specialist, says the program aligns with state physical education standards and aims to instill the joy of walking and rolling, encourage bicycle use for transportation and recreation, increase safe behavior, teach traffic safety, increase bike-handling skills and confidence and instill a sense of self-responsibility with regard to safety and respect for other street and trail users. 
 
The club provided the equipment, both the bikes and the helmets. Each student learned how to properly fit a helmet (the helmets came with hair nets for hygiene, which were disposed of after each class). 
 
Buckley says the program features a variety of bicycle types to meet riders at different ability levels and all equipment is maintained by a trained supervisor. 
 
The program features six total lessons for each student in grades three through five delivered through their P.E. teacher. “There are challenges and modifications included in the curriculum to provide challenge and success for different levels of riders,” Buckley says, adding each class typically had at least two students who didn’t know how to ride a bike. “All students improved their biking skills.” 
 
The students practiced scenarios within the safety of the school grounds that replicated situations they may face in the local community.
 
While this is the first year of the program at Nooksack Valley Schools, Buckley says that Cascade Bicycle Club hopes to continue it into the future.