Anderson Elementary adopts "All Kids Bike" program

ANDERSON, Mo. — Anderson Elementary adopts a "cutting edge program," teaching a skill some of us may take for granted.

The school's new "All Kids Bike" program was officially unveiled Friday.

All Kids Bike is a national nonprofit teaching children how to ride a bike in school through a specifically designed program for kindergarten and first graders.

The program teaches things like balance, and bike safety, in eight lessons.

Today, 24 balance-to-pedal conversion bikes were given to the school.

American Ramp Company and the nonprofit organization Trailblazers provided $9,000 of funding to make the program possible.

"I think programs like this bring laughter and friendship, and more learning than just motor skills. Learning how to work together as a team, learning how to complement one another. I hope that it brings joy to our students' hearts to try something new in a lot of cases," said Paulette Pattengill, Anderson Elementary Principal.

"So many kids grow up not knowing how to ride a bike, and we take it for granted, but, you know, really this generation, statistically, like 50% of 8th graders in the United States don't know how to ride a bike, which is really terrible, because they lose that opportunity to be able to get outside, alternative transportation, just the opportunity to be active," said John Hunter, American Ramp Company CEO.

John Hunter says Anderson Elementary is the 4th school in McDonald County to adopt the program.

He tells us there are roughly 1,500 schools across the U.S. that have it in place.