On Friday, Queen Kaahumanu Elementary’s kindergarteners received a special gift: 24 balance-to-pedal bicycles, helmets, pedal conversion kits, and storage racks.

What You Need To Know

  • The nonprofits HDR Foundation and All Kids Bike, which aims to teach all students in the U.S. how to bike during kindergarten PE class, worked together to make the donation

  • Queen Kaahumanu Elementary School is the third school in Hawaii to receive bikes via All Kids Bike

  • The PE Learn-to-Ride program includes teacher training and certification, and a robust curriculum filled with lesson plans, games and activities

  • The program’s goals are to empower kindergarteners to become safe, proficient cyclists, develop the confidence to take risks and persevere, and enjoy the sport as a lifelong skill

The nonprofits HDR Foundation and All Kids Bike, which aims to teach all students in the U.S. how to bike during kindergarten PE class, worked together to make the donation. HDR engineers and staff members volunteered their time to build the bikes and storage racks.   

Queen Kaahumanu Elementary School is the third school in Hawaii to receive bikes via All Kids Bike.

Linell Dilwith, complex area superintendent, Kaimukī-McKinley-Roosevelt, said in a statement that the donation will help teach the students to ride bicycles and also other important safety skills, like wearing a helmet and being familiar with the surroundings when they’re biking. 

Learning to ride a bike is a key developmental milestone for keiki, according to a news release from the Hawaii Department of Education. The PE Learn-to-Ride program includes teacher training and certification, and a robust curriculum filled with lesson plans, games and activities. The program’s goals are to empower kindergarteners to become safe, proficient cyclists, develop the confidence to take risks and persevere, and enjoy the sport as a lifelong skill. 

“So our students, we live in an urban community and a lot of them live in apartments and condos and they don't have a home where you have a driveway to actually learn how to ride up and down your driveway,” said Tanya Hall, the principal at Kaʻahumanu Elementary. “So this gives us the opportunity to teach them how to ride a bike, being that most of them live in a dwelling that doesn't allow that. So we get to provide that opportunity for them.”