Bike Traffic - June 2005

June 2005

Learning Bike, Life Lessons
Students Learn About More Than Bikes in After School Matters

By Alex Wilson

Transportation, employment, safety, health, crime, obesity — these are some of the day-to-day issues facing teens in Chicago.

There is a simple solution to these complex problems: bicycling.
The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation has teamed up with several city and community organizations to give 25 at risk youth an opportunity to learn workplace skills, mechanics training, safe cycling instruction and the chance to have a job as a Junior Bicycling Ambassador this Summer.

Students from five West Side Chicago high schools have been meeting every Tuesday through Thursday afternoon at Ames Middle School for three hours of bicycle training. Each participant received a recycled project bicycle, donated from Working Bikes Cooperative, which they refurbished while learning a comprehensive overview of bicycle mechanics.

The program is made possible by After School Matters, a non-profit organization that partners with the city of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, and the Chicago Public Library, that expands out-of-school opportunities for Chicago teens. Together, these institutions help revitalize Chicago neighborhoods and enrich the lives of teens throughout the city.

Riding in traffic is one of the life lessons teens learn while training for Mayor Daley's Junior Bicycling Ambassadors

Skilled professionals lead hands-on, interactive ASM apprenticeships that enable youths to explore different career paths and develop marketable skills like teamwork and problem-solving. Apprentices also receive a $15 stipend per class attended.

Also, beginning this year, ASM is preparing the students to work as junior ambassadors in Mayor Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors. Participants learn not only bicycle mechanics, but safe cycling instruction and the importance of responsible transportation choices and a healthy active lifestyle.

After building bicycles, participants turn their attention to safe cycling instruction. This not only includes learning the importance of wearing a helmet, how to ride in traffic and the rules of the road, but how to present on these and other bicycle topics to their friends and peers. Ten of the 25 participants will be hired by the Chicago Park District as Junior Bicycling Ambassadors to teach children attending summer day camps.

The Junior Ambassador instruction also includes rides give these impressionable youth a real life experience of the city and its rich neighborhoods. It shows them how accessible things can be by bike and the possibilities they have.

Alex Wilson is program manager of Build And Ride