Bike to School Challenge: Elementary Schools

How to Participate

Seattle in May is a time of change. Spring is in full swing and with any luck the sun is out and shining. It's the perfect time of year to spend a month riding your bike and what better reason to get going than joining in on Bike to School Month!

Cascade Bicycle Club hosts Bike to School Month and Bike to School Day each May (as part of Cascade’s Bike Month festivities) for schools in the Puget Sound area. Your elementary school can participate if you have a volunteer parent or teacher to help organize.

On Bike to School Day, students can bike to school along with thousands of other cyclists from the greater Seattle area participating in Bike to Work Day. Schools and volunteers set up stations to pass out goodies to students who bike to school.

Ride to school in May. Ride with us! Ride with Seattle!

If you are interested in signing up your school or have any questions contact Elliott Sherburne ypa@cascadebicycleclub.org

How it Works

Students sign up at their participating school for Bike to School Month. Rather than competing against each other, students earn prizes by completing as many bike trips as they can and tracking their trips on a calendar. Because every child cannot cycle safely to school, and because the "work" that kids do also includes sports, music lessons, trips to the library, play dates, etc., trips for Bike to School Month can include any trip made by bicycle somewhere he or she needs to go, one round-trip per day. Volunteer parent or teacher coordinators from the school handle student sign ups, publicize the event at the school and distribute prizes (see sample forms below in Bike to School Toolbox). Cascade provides the materials, prizes and support.

The elementary school that makes the most total trips will be featured in an article about their Bike to School team in the Cascade Courier.

Safety

You know your child and your route to school best, but in general young children are not prepared to ride on the street alone. Most elementary school children ride with their parents or another adult. We envision participation in Bike-to-School Month as a family project, one that may also introduce parents to the fun of cycling with their kids!

To encourage this, we will provide weekly safety emails for parents of participants as part of Bike to School Month (see samples below in Bike to School Toolbox).

Bike to School Toolbox

You can download sample Bike to School Month materials below.