Program Updates
More than just a cool drawing, the computer-generated image to the right is a symbol of the advanced work being produced by students at the Center for Appropriate Transport in Eugene, Oregon. Students in CAT’s advanced design and manufacturing component have been honing their computer-aided design (CAD) skills on practical applications in the CAT shop where they assist in the manufacture of recumbent and folding bikes and bike racks.Right: Head badge created by Vincent Young Left: Hub created by Tevor Grissell. 
Training in advanced manufacturing, metal fabrication, or CAD skills is beyond the current capacity or scope of most other YBEN affiliate programs. But the point is that students are being given an opportunity to reach beyond their grasp within the sanctuary of an educational environment. Any youth program concerned with learning can and ought to do that. As Joan Wynn of the Chapin Hall Center for Children wrote, (see Community Toolbox, page 6) “high expectations of students” is one of seven key characteristics of exemplary youth programs.
In other news, CAT continues the struggle for recognition as a locally sanctioned alternative education site. Presently CAT receives public funding to work with referrals and home schoolers. CAT wants all youth to have access to its programs.
“I want my son to have the chance to learn [in a place like CAT]” said the father of a prospective CAT student, in a recent meeting with Jan Vander Tuin, CA T’s director and a local high school principal. “My son is doing very well academically but the school has no hands-on programs. How can we access public funding for my son?” A decision by local school officials is pending. Vander Tuin says he’ll continue the struggle for recognition of YBEN-type programs for all youth.
Breaking the Public School Barrier:
New York City Recycle-a-Bike
- When Karen Overton started Recycle-a-Bicycle (RAB) in New York City in the early 1990s, other bike education ventures only dreamed of reaching the vast public school population directly. Until then, youth bicycle education was a radical, alternative education movement limited to community-based facilities outside of the mainstream public school classroom.
Commonly referred to as the “New York Model” of youth bicycle education programs, Recycle-a-Bicycle (RAB) broke the public school barrier in 1994 in a unique three-way partnership. Overton established a bike mechanics and environmental education program in Intermediate School 218 in upper Manhattan with funding from two well-established nonprofits, the Children’s Aid Society and Transportation Alternatives. These two funding organizations provided a level of credibility for the bicycle education program concept that satisfied New York City’s public school administration, an educational bureaucracy no less scrutinizing of radical approaches than any other public school system.Not only did RAB operate a bike education program on-site in a public school classroom but also it managed to get I.S. 218 to integrate the course into the regular school-day curriculum as an industrial arts alternative. Overton soon found other public schools to adopt the RAB curriculum and program, one in East Harlem, and one in the Lower East Side where Overton currently bases her office. RAB operations now total seven programs in public schools in the New York metro area including New Jersey. All RAB programs serve low-income neighborhoods where youth crime is unfortunately a common alternative, though none perhaps as challenging as the program in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.
While breaking barriers in public school education and opening vast new YBEN territory, Overton also produced “Tools for Life” with co-author George Babiak, still the best available introductory “how-to” manual for starting a youth bicycle education venture. The 72-page illustrated manual was funded with a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, which demonstrates Overton’s focus on the environmental education aspect of bicycle education. Several existing YBEN programs including Philadelphia’s Youth Cycle and Recycle and a very new start-up in Memphis, TN have used “Tools for Life” as their main guide along with personal advice from Overton. For your own copy, send $3 to Transportation Alternatives, 115 West 30th Street, Rm. 1207, New York, NY 10001-4010.
Another distinctive feature of bicycle-based education that Karen Overton pioneered was the use of convertible program space. Initially, RAB started in a classroom that had to be shared with other classes, posing a serious challenge to tool security and the integrity of other educational materials. Karen Overton and staff developed a list of basic tools that fit into toolboxes that could be secured in lockers or transported to other locations if necessary. Tools for Life contains tool lists and plenty of other helpful lists, forms, and information.
Trips for Kids
In August 1998, Trips for Kids Youth Mountain Biking Program opened a Youth Leadership Program and Job Training Center in collaboration with Marin Teen Center, Inc. in San Rafael, California. Youth learn and participate in all aspects of bike retail shop operations, from sales and management to bike repairs and classes. Under the guidance of Instructor-Mechanic David Tacey, teen employees and interns operate the bicycle sales and repair shop exclusively for youth customers. This exciting new project is housed in the Marin Teen Center, at 1115 Third Street, San Rafael, CA, with other youth leadership and entrepreneurial organizations, such as the Youth Leadership Institute, Marin Interfaith Youth Outreach and Youth in Arts. Trips for Kids Team Unity twelve-member multi-cultural BMX racing team continues to practice and compete in Northern California. The team practices at the Napa race track, and competes once a month. Team members have consistently won top placings in races throughout the year. To qualify for the team and remain an active member, youth must regularly attend workshops at Trips for Kids’ Re-Cycle training program facility, and consistently demonstrate cooperation, responsibility, and teamwork.
