Programs for Schools

Bicycle Education and
Skills Training | BEST

Giving Manitoba children skills and confidence to get around on their bikes

BEST Bicycle Education & Skills Training In School

Cycling education for students is crucial, as most parents are themselves infrequent cyclists who may not possess the knowledge or skills needed to teach their children how “BEST” to ride on the streets of Winnipeg, or how to keep their bike maintained. Bicycle Education and Skills Training (BEST) is a multi-grade, multi-year bike education program. Students in grades 6-8 are taught how to ride on-road, learning valuable skills such as hand signals, shoulder checking, lane positioning, and more. The program also includes bike maintenance, teaching students to assess whether their bike is road worthy, what the parts of a bike are and how those parts operate.

Bring BEST to Your School

Examples

Bike Education and Skills Training (BEST) launched in 2015 and has become a successful and innovative school based cycling program that is in high demand from school divisions across Winnipeg.

BEST aims to integrate bike education into the physical education curriculum of Manitoban schools – just as students learn to play basketball in gym class, they also learn to ride a bike safely. The program provides real life skills training to ensure students are comfortable riding on roads with vehicles present. Learning these skills in a real world environment helps establish confidence necessary for children to see cycling as a viable method of transportation. This is a multi-year program, for grades 6-8.

The program is currently taking place in all middle schools in Seven Oaks School Division, Louis Riel School Division, and St. James-Assiniboia School Division.

To date, more than 7,000 students in 20 middle schools in Winnipeg have participated in the BEST program!

Many people who bike (especially children), do not have the knowledge or skills to confidently ride their bikes on the street. Programs like BEST are critical to help increase the number of knowledgeable, confident cyclists in Manitoba and increase the likelihood of people choosing active transportation – which leads to positive environmental and health benefits.

Preliminary evaluation demonstrates improving student knowledge and skills, as well as suggesting that the program is leading to a much greater likelihood of children biking to school. We are hopeful that we will see positive growth in the number of students in Winnipeg receiving training through the BEST program, as well as an associated rise in the numbers of students using bicycles as a method of sustainable transportation in our city.

“BEST bike program has made a huge difference – we have way more kids riding since it came to our school…  We have families thanking us for having the BEST bike program – it has made the biggest difference.” – Testimonial from Arthur E. Wright Community School

The BEST steering committee, which develops and manages the program and curriculum, consists of Manitoba Public Insurance, The WRENCH, Bike Winnipeg, and Green Action Centre. Staff from the Seven Oaks School Division also sit on the steering committee as the original pilot school division.

Get In Touch

Ariel Desrochers

Ariel Desrochers

Sustainable Transportation Program Coordinator

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