I made my way out to Noddin Elementary School yesterday to take part in the Bike Rodeo. It was a wonderful time, the whole event was coordinated to coincide with the schools walk-a-thon, a fundraiser for the school. City of San Jose's Street Smarts Program coordinated a fantastic event, led up by the lovely and talented Tara Jones of SJDOT. While the event was on the low key side, it was really wonderful to be engaging with the kids at this school, who as always were more than thrilled to be on their bikes going through our safety drills.
But, as some of you may know, this bike rodeo had an extra element to it, because until recently students had been told they could not ride their bikes to school. Obviously, to us bike riding types . . . this seems criminal! Parents had actually been turned away from riding their bikes in with their children, being told it was too dangerous. SVBC learned about this issue through one of our members, Richard Masoner, who brought the issue to our attention last year after a parent at the school (named Eva) started making some noise. A huge thanks to everyone who signed our petition on this issue, and to the City of San Jose who worked with the Principal to ensure that safety concerns were met and that children could have the option to ride their bikes again. As someone who started riding their bike to school in the first grade and has yet to get enough . . . It was a wonderful event to participate in.
Now, unfortunately, we heard that Noddin may not be the only school in this situation, so we need to dig a little more on this, but it was a wonderful day anyway, nothing like helping kids learn how to be safe on their bikes.
Add new comment