HONOLULU (KHON2) — Kindergarten students at Queen Kaʻahumanu Elementary received a donation of 24 balance-to-pedal bicycles, helmets, storage racks and other equipment courtesy of the HDR Foundation for the school’s PE Learn-to-Ride program.
The HDR Foundation donated these bikes on April 4 in partnership with All Kids Bike, a national nonprofit. According to the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, the PE Learn-to-Ride program teaches keiki to become “safe, proficient cyclists, develop the confidence to take risks and perservere and enjoy the sport as a lifelong skill.”
HDR engineers and staff members volunteered to build the bikes and storage racks for the keiki, providing students with an outlet to improve physical and mental well-being, which in turn benefits their classroom performance. Biking is an engaging, screen-free activity that can build foundational skills.
The PE Learn-to-Ride program also includes teacher training and certification, on top of a lesson plan filled with lesson plans, games and more. Queen Kaʻahumanu Elementary is the third school in the islands to receive bikes through this program.
“So our students, we live in an urban community and a lot of them live in apartments and condos and they don’t have a home where you have a driveway to actually learn how to ride up and down your driveway,” said Kaʻahumanu Principal Tanya Hall. “So this gives us the opportunity to teach them how to ride a bike, being that most of them live in a dwelling that doesn’t allow that. So we get to provide that opportunity for them.”
The bikes, while engaging and enriching for the students, are also a big hit with the keiki.
“It feels really good, even though I don’t know how to ride a bike,” said kindergartener Soran Burns. “When they opened the curtains, I felt surprised.”