Through the services of SRTS Education Consultant Chuck Malagodi and community partner Bike Santa Fe, the Santa Fe SRTS program has offered Santa Fe Public Schools a variety of bicycling and walking education curricula. The objective is for SFPS staff, including physical education teachers and others, to integrate walking and bicycling education into what they teach so that all SFPS students have an opportunity to learn about safely walking and bicycling in their community.
“Walk this Way” at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, Sept. 2021
From Summer of 2021 through December of 2023 we reached nearly 4,400 k-8 students through educational programming at 16 schools, as summarized here: SRTS Education Activities Multi Semester by School. See links below for more details on programming during each school season.
Walk This Way is a 45-minute presentation most appropriate for first or second graders. The program will cover traffic sign recognition, head/helmet safety and how to be visible.
“Walk this Way” at Wood-Gormley Elementary School, Oct. 2021
A smart board and computer or projector and computer that has internet access will be needed to show a ten minute video. This presentation could be offered to the whole grade level or to individual classes depending on what would work within your schedule.
Bike This Way is a 45-minute presentation most appropriate for third and fourth graders. It covers how to cycle safely on the road as well as helmet and head safety. A smart board and computer or projector and computer will be needed to show a ten minute video. This presentation could be offered to the whole grade level or to individual classes depending on what would work within your schedule.
“Bike this Way” at Cesar Chavez E.S., Sept. 2021
Pump It UP is a 45-minutes to an hour class, most appropriate for grades 5-8, that briefly covers bicycle safety before teaching students how to repair a flat tire. All students will receive a glueless patch kit to take home. Gyms are perfect locations to house this class seeing that room for the students to spread out is necessary. Class size should be limited to 40 youth.
Bike Fleets: Schools that already have pedal-bicycle fleets have the opportunity for more intensive education and training. During the Summer of 2021, the Santa Fe SRTS program offered a three-to-four-day curriculum for students at El Camino Real Academy and Nina Otero Community School that began with in-class pedestrian and bicycle education followed by an outdoor “bicycle rodeo,” where students navigated a course featuring common traffic signs and signals, and a more advanced skills session where students learned and practiced maneuvering their bicycles around and over obstacles (see summary below). Both schools continue to provide their own programming using these fleets for physical education classes as well as in after-school and summer school programs.
In 2022-23, the SRTS program helped Milagro Middle School and Ortiz Middle School take significant steps to acquire and build bicycle fleets for this purpose as well.
“Bike Rodeo” at El Camino Real Academy, June 2021
Striders: Striders are small, pedal-less bicycles that provide a better way to learn how to balance on a bicycle than traditional training wheels. Several SFPS schools with “strider” fleets are in a position to teach basic cycling skills to new riders. Staff at El Camino Real Academy and Nina Otero Community School have provided this instruction along with a Bike Santa Fe volunteer, and through the SRTS program may be able to help disseminate this knowledge to teachers at other schools with striders.
Thanks to Free Bikes 4 Kids with assistance from the SFSRTS program, schools with strider fleets now also include Ramirez-Thomas E.S., Chavez E.S., Sweeney E.S., and Aspen C.S.
SRTS Education Summary Tables 2021 through 2023
SRTS Education Activities in Summer 2021
SRTS Education Activities in Fall 2021
SRTS Education Activities in Spring 2022
SRTS Education Activities in Fall 2022