Happy New Year everyone!It is a great time of year for planning ahead to potential events and programs for the spring and fall, and for many schools access to grant funding can play an important role, along with support from school administrations, PTSAs, and parents and staff.
This upcoming year promises to be a huge one for walk and bike to school programs here in Seattle. There was so much energy and growth in Seattle’s walk and bike to school programs in 2012, and if SDOT’s grant program is any indication, we’re just getting started and 2013 will be even bigger.
The Seattle Department of Transportation received a record 30 applications for funding support through their mini-grant program for 2013, and were able to fund nearly all of them. (A couple of grant applications were out of scope due to being too large, or for projects that didn’t fit the grant guidelines established for the call for applications). SDOT has been running this grant program since the 2007 Bridging the Gap levy created this funding source, and this is by far the biggest year ever in terms of the number of schools participating and the amount of funding dispersed.
$27,700 will support a lot of bike and walk to school events!
All total, SDOT is funding 28 applications totaling $27,700. Most are from individual schools, though Cascade Bicycle Club sought and received a grant for a multi-school programs it is planning to initiate. There is a good geographic diversity to the applications too, with participating schools split pretty evenly around the city.
Most of the schools are Seattle Public Schools, with only two private schools receiving funding. And, notably, most are elementary level or K-8 schools. Only five middle schools are receiving funding, and no high schools this year. While a record 27 schools with grant-funded programs for the coming year is fantastic, we hope that in future years we can see more involvement from private schools and from middle and high schools. Let’s get high school students to sponsor their own programs!
Overall, the breadth of the grant program for 2013 looks really promising, with a range of programs and events to get kids walking and biking. This includes many encouragement programs along with some smaller infrastructure improvements. Some proposed infrastructure improvements such as bike racks didn’t receive grant funding as SDOT believes they can meet the need through other funds.
A couple of highlights and examples:
Loyal Heights Elementary in Ballard is looking to establish an after-school urban cycling club for 4th and 5th graders. The goal is to provide kids with a strong foundation of bike safety education combined with application of the skills they learn. The program is still under development, and grant funding will be helpful to pay for professional instruction by Cascade Bicycle Club instructors as well as to purchase supplies. Parent volunteers will also be involved, learning about the content and delivery of the curriculum to ensure program continuity into future seasons. The intent is to create a 4 to 1 ratio of kids to adults, so that students get very personalized instruction, and to include learning and practice initially on school grounds, then ultimately through short, organized rides around the neighborhood. This model is an interesting one; we hope to track the progress and report back as the program is launched and implemented. Perhaps it will create a model for other schools to consider.
Denny International Middle School in West Seattle is establishing a new program this year, and is planning on using the funds on creative incentives to support and encourage more Denny students to choose alternative ways to school, as well as on some dedicated routes to access the school. They are planning on focusing on both student and teacher involvement and will use the funds for signage around the school grounds to make a designated route, along with promotional materials including prizes to reward regular ridership. Denny also has an opportunity to collaborate with the co-located Chief Sealth International High School and its Major Taylor program. Denny is also beginning to looking at add opportunities for creating covered bike parking using existing bike racks so weather is not an issue when locking up bikes, though this will likely require additional funding. (Many schools are interested in exploring better bike parking options including covered parking; we’ll explore this in a future post.)
Cascade’s grant proposal is to hold two workshops entitled “Bike Training – How to Run and Ride Your Bike Train,” one in the north end of Seattle and one in the south end. These workshops will be held at community centers and will be open to the public; parents and children will learn how to ride in a bike train on the road. Each workshop will include a short lecture for parents in bike train organization and safe route choices as well as a supervised bike rodeo for children, a skill-building course for parents and a short ride on neighborhood streets. After seeing first-hand the success of the Thornton Creek bike trains this past year, it will be interesting to see whether this program can help launch bike trains at more schools.
SDOT staff also reported a lot of interest in Undriving events this year, with several schools using grant funding to host these to encourage their students to become “Undrivers.”
There are a number of other really cool projects and ideas on tap for 2013. We’ll pass along some more highlights later. For now, this post is sort of the wide-angle view with just a few details. If you want to dive in deeper, check out the full list here. Maybe one of these projects will spark some ideas for your school.
We’re looking forward to an awesome 2013, and can’t wait to hear how all of these new walk and bike initiatives turn out!
Walk.Bike.Schools! 