CYCLE Kids’ innovative cycling and nutrition education curriculum will enrich the health of children at PS 157 and 257
Cambridge, MA, USA (March 7, 2013) — Olympic cyclist Evelyn Stevens, Director of Outreach for CYCLE Kids, hosted a fundraiser to give the innovative CYCLE Kids curriculum to two Bedford-Stuyvesant schools this spring. Both the Benjamin Franklin and John F Hylan Schools are eager to implement the CYCLE Kids program, which teaches biking skills, safety, and nutrition to 5th and 6th grade school students. Each school will be hosting a bike build event to kick off the program.
Both the Benjamin Franklin and John F Hylan Schools have shown leadership in wellness education and initiatives. The CYCLE Kids curriculum, with its focus physical activity and nutrition education, is a natural fit to build on each school’s success.
Ben Franklin’s Assistant Principal Juliana Notaro has been combating the high rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, and asthma in her district by initiating a comprehensive wellness program. The Ben Franklin Wellness Council has implemented programs that improve nutrition at school and in students’ homes, and offer a myriad of activities to inspire exercise, including yoga, jump rope, running, swimming, and Zumba. Notaro says of CYCLE Kids, “We are thrilled to offer our students the CYCLE Kids program, which achieves 70% gains in nutritional intelligence and over 50% gains in students’ desire to be more physically active. Many students will learn how to ride a bike for the first time and the important bike safety skills CYCLE Kids teaches will help round out the support we give our students to ensure they adopt and maintain healthy, active lifestyles.”
Faced with similar sobering statistics about the health of his pupils, Principal Brian Leavy DeVale of the John F Hylan School partnered with Woodhull Hospital’s Children’s Bike Club to increase his students’ activity level, so adding the CYCLE Kids program was a natural progression. DeVale says, “We have staff and students ready and eager to participate. We’re looking forward to riding and improving the health of our community.”
The Benjamin Franklin bike build is scheduled for March 13th, and the John F Hylen bike build will coincide with National Bike to School Day on May 8th. Each build will be facilitated by volunteer mechanics from Park Slope’s Bicycle Habitat, and will bring students, teachers, police officers, and community members together to assemble bikes for the students to use during the program.
Other partners in this endeavor include Hu Kitchen and Wassermann Media Group, whose generous support was critical in helping CYCLE Kids meet fundraising goals, and Specialized for donating the mountains bikes the kids will be riding.