We’ve never rested on our resume or reputation at Nine13 and we’re always looking for new ways to incorporate the bicycle into classrooms and educational settings that will positively impact the youth we desire to serve.
Our staff has been working over these last months to design and create a new curriculum separate from our nationally recognized Kids Riding Bikes® programs that we have been delivering to students since 2012. This new curriculum will be an opportunity to take our bikes out of the gymnasium and into the math and science educational segments of the school day.
Originally crafted for grades 4 and 5, we hope to beta this curriculum in 2016 and expand it to include middle school students in years to come.
Ashley Acuff, our Director of Program Curriculum, used her experience as a teacher for six years to help create this new initiative and incorporate discussions had with math and science teachers into the final product.
This new STEM based offering will supplement what we do at Nine13 and create new opportunities to teach students about motion, energy, gear ratios, human movement, and much more. Most importantly, it will highlight what a beautiful machine the bicycle is and how it can be a resource for things beyond basic fitness.
We’re currently seeking a grant that would allow us to roll out the first version of this program and we look forward to finding ways to improve and expand it as we move forward.
I truly can’t wait to see where this takes us as we continue to pedal forward to provide a better education for students across Central Indiana and Portland, Oregon.
Sincerely,
Tom Hanley
Founder and Executive Director