Out in the schoolyard, in a pedestrian safety garden that mimics city streets, MPS students are learning their ABCs. Not those ABCs — the other ones: A for air in tires, B for brakes, and C for chain. These are bicycling lessons, where students learn traffic safety, and some learn to ride for the first time.  

Each spring and fall, at four different schools each month, students in 3rd- and 4th-grade physical education classes learn lessons in bike safety, pedestrian safety, and general safety in navigating traffic on city streets. And now, MPS’s bicycling program has been expanded to more high schools. 

As with everything at Milwaukee Public Schools, the aim is to prepare students not just for today, but for life. The bike lessons can be a doorway to fun and good health for decades to come.  

“Biking is something you can do throughout your whole entire lifetime, not just in grade school or middle school. It’s a lifetime activity for wellness,” said Steven Wolf, the adaptive physical education specialist for Milwaukee Public Schools. “And you can get in touch with nature, get out in the environment. It’s just a really enjoyable thing that you can do.” 

Before students take even their first pedal, they learn how to check whether the tires have enough air, how the brakes work, and that the bike’s chain is good to go. On Day 1, they learn how to wear their bike helmet correctly, too. (The straps should form a V close to their ears; the helmet sits level and doesn’t move about; and the chin strap is tight enough but still allows them to talk.) 

First, a Bit of Nerves 

At Elm Creative Arts School, student Jizelle Deleon had some apprehension on the first day of lessons in April. 

“I’ve tried to learn to ride a bike once or twice before. I’m kind of nervous because I’m still learning how to ride a bike. I’m just really scared,” she said.

Jizelle had nothing to worry about. After the lessons were finished, she told PE teacher Josiah Roundtree, “It went good — I finally got to learn how to ride a bike! It was a fun experience that I would recommend for other students.”

"Biking is one of my favorite activities,” Mr. Roundtree said, “so it’s a great way for us to share that and build a connection out of that, as well, while building life skills.”

When those bike lessons click, and the students who didn’t know how to ride start pedaling across the playground, what Mr. Roundtree sees in his students is “a lot of joy, a lot of confidence, which is really what it’s all about — building them up to be great people.”

Instilling that can-do attitude can extend beyond bike riding.  

Mr. Wolf observed, “By even the second or third day, the kids who weren’t able to bike right away, they’re able to bike; they’re able to ride. It really gives you self-confidence. You can take that throughout life, feeling really positive about yourself and that you can accomplish things.” That attitude can carry over to academics, he said, into math, science, reading, and writing. 

Community Partners Are Key 

In the seven years or so that the program has been in place, thousands of students each year have taken the lessons, on bikes supplied in conjunction with the Wisconsin Bike Federation organization. The Bike Fed also provides some free bikes to students to take home, supplies safe-route maps, and aids instruction in other ways. The helmets that students use in class, supported with funding by Children’s Wisconsin, are theirs to keep.  

“It is because of community partnerships like these, which we build in MPS, that we are able to offer great programs to our students,” Mr. Wolf said. “When school districts have good community partnerships, they prosper. In turn, the whole community becomes a pillar of stability and success.” 

MPS also teaches an adaptive bicycling unit for students with special needs; those needs sometimes don’t allow them to ride a typical two-wheeled bike. They use three-wheelers to provide more stability. Some of the bikes have arm controls for pedaling, for students who can’t pedal with their feet. Thanks to the adaptive bicycling unit, all MPS students can experience the joy of bike riding. 

High schoolers hit the trails 

At the high school level, students are honing their skills on streets and on off-road bike paths around the city. Golda Meir students, for instance, have ridden to Lake Michigan and on the Oak Leaf Trail from their school downtown. 

“So not only are they learning traffic safety, they’re also learning safety when it comes to biking on the trails,” Mr. Wolf said.

MPS and the Wisconsin Bike Fed typically coordinate supplying bikes and co-teaching with high school teachers. (Riverside University High School has its own fleet of bikes, which it has used for instruction for at least 15 years, Mr. Wolf said.) 

This spring, bicycling lessons took place at the Alliance School of Milwaukee for the first time and were hugely popular with the students. 

“They learned a lot of skills, and they enjoyed it,” said Alliance science teacher Angela Robinson, who coordinated the bicycling lessons with the Bike Fed.  

Academic achievement became one of the strongest outcomes of the bicycling program — several students improved their grades, attendance, and behavior after participating in bicycling and related activities, she said.

Students were not only riding with joy, but also developing discipline, responsibility, confidence, and a strong connection to the school.
- Angela Robinson

Something for Everyone 

Michael Torres, a 9th-grader at Alliance, is a frequent off-road bicyclist, but even he picked up a new safety skill during the lessons. “Learning the hand signals to be safe on the road was definitely something new for me,” he said.  

And, he said, “it was nice we could get some physical activity outside and get some fresh air.” 

The Bike Fed took the students out on city streets for two-hour rides, usually with a park for their destination where they could pause to catch their breaths and talk about how they did on the ride, Michael said. Another destination was a bike shop, where bikes also are repaired. They’d also stop at stores on their way, where the Bike Fed would buy students something to drink, Michael said.

Bicycling lifted students’ spirits and acted as an incentive, too. “If we know we’re going to be doing some fun stuff, it makes it easier. It’s sort of a reward,” Michael said.

A Dramatic Outcome 

The changes in one student were particularly dramatic.  

“We had a child who was coming to school on average one or two times a semester. That child came every single day,” Ms. Robinson said. “Not only did the child come every day, they did all of their work.”

An air-quality expert talked to the students one day about pollutants and the effects on breathing and health. With the help of internet hotspots, students used an air-quality checker to measure pollutants in parts per million.

Ms. Robinson noted that it showed students the practical applications behind their chemistry, environmental science, and Earth science lessons, connecting these lessons to their health and the community around them.

Another class featured a city planner and Legos, for students to construct a cityscape aligned with engineering and design standards — complete with streets and bike lanes peopled with riders. It was an impromptu lesson in engineering and design that also strengthened problem solving and collaboration.

Together, the bicycling, engineering, and air-quality activities created meaningful learning experiences, Ms. Robinson said, combining to support academic growth, improved attendance, positive behavior, and student confidence, Ms. Robinson said.

“These activities gave students opportunities to succeed outside of their everyday routines and helped build their confidence as learners,” she added. 

Mr. Wolf observed, “It’s a really special program, and we really enjoy having it in our district.”