Teacher Jodi Klyn with young bikers, from left, Lila Klein, Brendan Barber, Addison McNeil and Hazel Klein. The All Kids Bike program is being used at Willow School in Homewood to teach kindergarteners how to ride a bike. (Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)
Business, Education, Feature

All Kids Bike takes off at Willow School

Do you remember learning to ride a bike? You probably wobbled as you tried to pedal while finding your center of gravity, an adult diligently holding on to the bike’s seat to keep you upright.

Homewood District 153 and GoodSpeed Cycles of Homewood have come up with a different way to learn to ride a bike – start small and don’t include the pedals.

Teacher Jodi Klyn with young bikers, from left, Lila Klein, Brendan Barber, Addison McNeil and Hazel Klein. The All Kids Bike program is being used at Willow School in Homewood to teach kindergarteners how to ride a bike. (Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)
Teacher Jodi Klyn with young bikers, from left, Lila Klein, Brendan Barber, Addison McNeil and Hazel Klein. The All Kids Bike program is being used at Willow School in Homewood to teach kindergarteners how to ride a bike. (Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)

The All Kids Bike program is giving kindergarteners at Willow School the chance to learn to ride on a bike that is just two feet tall. The philosophy is for the five-year-olds to learn to walk with the bike and push themselves so they learn how to balance themselves. Pedals can be added, and the seats and handlebars can be adjusted to accommodate kids both large and small.

The All Kids Bike project was brought to the attention of Homewood District 153 administrators by Josh Klein, store manager, and Graham Bolkema, owner of GoodSpeed Cycles. The business initiated a fundraising drive during spring that raised $5,000 to cover the cost of the Strider bikes. The National Council of Jewish Women South Cook section donated $1,000 to purchase 50 helmets for the kindergarteners.

Teacher Jodi Klyn is piloting the program for one class of students. Others will be added to the program as scheduling permits. 

“When they came to us with the idea of doing the bikes program, I thought it was a great idea. A lot of kids don’t get the opportunity to ride a bike, so I thought it was a wonderful way to give all kindergarteners a chance to learn how to ride a bike,” Klyn said.

“I’m just so happy to be a part of a community that is into riding bikes like this and to have a program like this is very exciting,” Klein said. “We’re very proud of it.”

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