This is the December issue of the Marin Safe Routes to Schools ENewsletter. This newsletter provides you with monthly updates of the Marin Safe Routes to Schools program, including highlights of the month.
Highlights of the Month
Walk to School Day Report Available Online
Caltrans to Release RFP Soon
Drake Teens Create Audio-Visual
New Teen Program Team Leader Gathering
Guide for Buying Bikes for Your KIds
Donate Your Old Bikes
Join Rodeo Team
DECEMBER'S CALENDAR
TEAM LEADER EVENTS
Team Leader Valentine's Luncheon
Monday, February 9, 11:30 a.m.
San Rafael Community Center
618 B Street, San Rafael
Teen Leader Gathering
Week of March 2, 3:30 p.m.
San Rafael Community Center
618 B Street, San Rafael
TASK FORCE MEETINGS
Dixie Task Force
Wednesday, January 14, 7:00 p.m.
Miller Creek Library
2255 Las Galinas Road, San Rafael
Mill Valley Task Force
Thursday, January 15, 9:15 a.m.
Mill Valley School District
4511 Sycamore Ave., Mill Valley
Novato Task Force Meeting
Thursday, January 22, 7 p.m.
1015 7th Street, Novato
Ross Valley Task Force
Friday, January 23, 10 a.m.
Ross Valley School District Office
110 Shaw Drive, San Anselmo
San Rafael Task Force
Thursday, January 27, 4 p.m.
Davidson Middle School
280 Woodland Ave., San Rafael
Walk to School Day Report Available Online
View the remarkable reports and great pictures from schools that participated the 2008 Walk to School Day by visiting www.saferoutestoschools.org A special thanks to Clif Bars who donated 7000 zbars and twisted fruit ropes for the event. The fruit ropes were especially popular.
Caltrans to Release RFP Soon
Caltrans plans to release requests for proposals for it’s eighth round of funding for the California Safe Routes to Schools program. These funds are offered yearly to transportation agencies for the improvements of intersections, pathways and roads along the routes to schools. Local departments of public works should be receiving notification in the next month. For more information contact the California Safe Routes to School coordinator Joyce Parks at joyce_parks@dot.ca.gov
Drake Teens Create Transit Audio-Visual
“Teens Go Green” of SR2S has teamed up with the Marin Transit District to develop a class on how to use public transportation. As part of the class, students will be introduced to an audio-visual presentation created by Drake High School students and teachers. Students did a photo shoot with TAM photographer Peter Oppenheimer which included a bus trip to Double Rainbow in San Rafael for ice cream. ROCK Students, led by Drama teacher, Jasper Thelin, wrote and composed an original Rap piece with lyrics including “spare the air, with the wind in your hair” and “avoid those trips in the automatic shifty.” Students then recorded the Rap at Drake’s ComAcad studio with teachers Morgan Paar and Ryan Hilderbrand, who then professionally compiled the photos with the music. Drake participants and staff celebrated the accomplishment with pizza and a preview showing of the presentation after school on November 24th which turned into a lively Green Transportation RAP-a-thon.
New Teen Leader Gathering
Safe Routes to Schools has been offering adult team leaders an opportunity to share information and learn new tips at the tri-yearly Team Leader meetings. Now teens will have the same opportunity along with the adults who support them at the first Teen Leader Gathering, scheduled to take place the first week in March. Teens will be given an opportunity to work in small groups to brainstorm solutions to the many obstacles that keep teens from being able to walk, bike, transit or carpool to school. A light snack will be provided.
Guide for Buying Bikes for Your Kids
Thinking about surprising your child with a shiny, new bike this holiday season? Well, think again. It’s generally not a good idea to purchase a bike that you “guesstimate” is about your child’s size. Even worse, avoid purchasing a brand new bike that’s a little big so your child can grow into it. An oversized bike can make it difficult for your child to maintain control and ride safely on the roads.
So grab a tape measure and instead of focusing on the element of surprise this holiday, focus on obtaining your child’s measurements in advance of purchasing a new bike. This will insure that your son or daughter’s new bike is a proper fit, and a pleasure to ride. A proper fitting bike will maximize your child’s control of the bike, as well as their safety when biking on the road alongside cars.
An accurate inseam measurement is what you’ll need to provide to a local bike shop. To measure your child, ask them to stand with their back against a wall, barefoot, with their feet six inches apart on a hard floor. Place a book firmly between their legs to simulate sitting on a bicycle seat. Measure from the top of the book to the floor bottom. Of course, if you are planning to surprise your child with a new bike then you will need to be clever when they ask you why you are doing this. One suggestion is to tell them that you are making sure that their current bike is a proper fit.
Children’s bike sizes are determined by wheel diameter, not frame size. It would be helpful if you could also provide your local bike shop with the wheel size of your child’s current bike: 12”, 16”, 20” and 24”.
Purchasing a new bike with an adjustable seat is also a wise idea. Most quality bikes have what’s called a quick-release at the base of the bike seat. Ask your child to sit on the seat with both hands on the handlebar (after they have stopped jumping up and down with excitement about their new bike). He or she should be able to place both feet on the ground. If not, then slightly adjust their seat up or down so they can comfortably straddle the bike flat footedly. No tippy toes, please! On boys’ bikes, there should be one inch of clearance between their crotch and the horizontal bar. If the measurements that you provided to the bike shop were accurate, then you will hopefully not have to adjust the seat at all.
Lastly, don’t forget to make sure your child’s bike helmet is a proper fit – just like their brand new bike. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that helmets are 85 percent effective in reducing head injuries. It’s very important that your child’s helmet not be tilted back, exposing their forehead. And if it’s too low on the forehead, then the back of the head becomes vulnerable. A level worn helmet is what you need to teach your child. No loose chin strips either! A snug, level fitting helmet should be your child’s goal every time they ride their bike.
Back to the top
Donate Your Old Bikes
What are you doing with your unused bikes in your garage? Are you giving your child a new bike for the holidays? Then pass that bike along to kids who need it.
Miller Creek’s Teens Go Green club joined the national Lexus eco-challenge competition this year. Competing teams create a challenge that will benefit the environment in one of the three offered categories: land, water, or air/climate. (for more information go to: http://www.scholastic.com/lexus/). The club at Miller Creek chose to engage with problems concerning air pollution and climate change by collecting bikes from the community and redistributing them to students that don’t have one. If you are interested in donating bikes you are no longer using, please contact the club at greenteammc@gmail.com
Join the Rodeo Team
Safe Routes to Schools works with over 40 schools providing education that creates safer streets to walk or bike to school. Part-time instructors are needed this spring to teach children the importance of seeing, being seen, and remaining in control, at all times when riding a bike.
Instructors are needed to lead elementary school students during our Bicycle Safety Rodeo. This is a great opportunity if you are looking for part-time, occasional work and enjoy working with students. Please review our website www.saferoutestoschools.org to learn more about Safe Routes to Schools. Please send a letter or interest to Peggy Clark at peggy@marinbike.org, or call 415-4563469, 6#.
SAFE ROUTES
TO SCHOOLS
is a program of the
Transportation Authority
of Marin
3501 Civic Center Dr.
San Rafael, CA 94913
www.tam.ca.gov
Project Manager:
David Parisi
415-388-8978
david@
parisi-associates.com
For general
information
on the Safe Routes
program:
Program Director:
Wendi Kallins
415-488-4101
wendi@marinbike.org
For information on
school activities:
Project Coordinator:
Laura Kelly
415-456-3469 ext. 2#
laura@marinbike.org
For information on
school classes:
Project Coordinator
for Logistics:
Peggy Clark
415-456-3469 ext 6#
peggy@marinbike.org
