Local elementary hosts second annual bike rodeo

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local elementary school hosted its second annual bike rodeo Friday morning to teach kids about bicycle safety.

Donna Hedges, a grade three teacher at Anne Roberts Young Elementary School, spearheaded the rodeo last year after holding it at other schools she’s taught at.

“We want them to practice riding their bikes safely, but especially at crosswalks, traffic circles and on the road,” Hedges said.

“We want them to learn their hand signals. We want them to know they need to wear a helmet.”

The kids were split into primary and intermediate groups, and each class went through three stations.

Volunteers were available to help at each station, and an RCMP officer was also on site.

One of the stations was an obstacle course, which included a crosswalk and roundabouts. On the intermediate side, there was a station allowing students to jump their bikes.

Taunis, who didn’t want to provide her full name, was one of the volunteers helping run the intermediate students’ obstacle course and said it’s essential to have events like the bike rodeo.

“We’re such an outdoor city. A lot of these kids live close to the school, and they bike and scooter every day,” Taunis said.

“So being able to do obstacles and know how to maintain their bikes and know the safety of being on the road and sidewalks and etiquette of those are very important.”

The safety station talked about the importance of helmets, what to do at crosswalks and other important safety tips.

“It’s super important because there have been many unsafe practices in our town, and Anne Roberts Young is close to a busy street, and we have a lot of kids riding their bikes to school. It’s more important than ever to practice bike safety,” Hedges said.

There was also a maintenance station, which showed kids how to take care of their bikes.

Taunis said the first year they held the bike rodeo, there weren’t a lot of volunteers. However, this year there were multiple at each station, and the schools’ leadership group also helped out.

She said the leadership group designed and put together the obstacle course and helped run kids through it.

Hedges said she was very grateful for the volunteers and the RCMP officer who showed up to teach the kids about safety.

The bike rodeo was made possible by the RCMP officer, Hedges, the leadership team and about eight other parent volunteers.