DENVER — Middle school students in Denver are getting some new wheels to get to school thanks to the Colorado Department of Transportation's (CDOT) Colorado Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program.
Thirty new bikes, helmets and bike locks were given to students based on need at KIPP Northeast Denver Middle School, a public charter school, according to Sam Stookesberry with Cerro Public Relations.
It'll work like a library: Students can check out a bike and bring it back, and the bikes will be cycled through the school year to other students to make sure everyone has a chance to use them.
The bikes will also be part of a lesson plan and they're available for PE. In the spring, students will learn about hands-on bike maintenance, Stookesberry said.
The school bought the bikes from Elevation Cycles with the grant money from CDOT.
CDOT's SRTS program is an effort to make school routes safe for children when walking and bicycling to school, according to CDOT's website.
In 1969, roughly half of all 5- to 18-year-olds walked or biked to school, the website says. Today, nearly 90% are driven by car or bus to school.
SRTS is a Federal-Aid and state-funded program to enable children to walk and bike safely.
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