Henley Elementary starts kindergarten bicycle program

Shasta Elementary plans to join them after raising additional funds

Country Financial has donated $4,000 to Henley Elementary School for its All Kids Bike program, which will be used to purchase 30 new bicycles for the school’s kindergarteners. Pictured from left to right: Henley P.E. teacher Tiffany Poe, Country Financial representatives Cora Christ, Tom Keller (back), Mai Thorn (front), Kathy Neese, and Gary Cheyne, and Henley P.E. teacher Meghan Stock.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - Henley Elementary School kindergarten students are receiving 30 new bikes as part of the All Kids Bike physical education program thanks to a substantial donation from Country Financial.

The All Kids Bike project is an effort started by the Strider Education Foundation to equip elementary schools nationwide with bicycles along with curriculum to teach young students how to ride them.

Both Henley and Shasta elementary schools applied for the program about a month ago, and as a result of a $4,000 donation by Country Financial representatives Cora Christ, Gary Cheyne, and Tom Keller, Henley has now successfully raised the needed $5,700. Shasta Elementary still needs around $1,200.

Country Financial made the donation as part of their Operation Helping Heroes initiative, which provides funding for first responders, nurses, and teachers. In this case, they decided to help the All Kids Bike project at Henley.

“It’s something that kids are going to be able to use year after year,” Christ said. “It gets them outside and active. With the pandemic, they haven’t had a lot of opportunity to do that.”

Henley P.E. teachers Tiffany Poe and Meghan Stock and Shasta P.E. teacher Theresa Ross have bike fleets and offered bicycle safety courses for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders over the past several years. However, they’ve noticed many of their fourth graders have never ridden a bike before, and don’t have a bike to use at home.

“Each year when we begin our bike unit for the older students, there are several of them who have never learned to ride a bike,” Ross said. “As they get older, this is a more difficult thing to overcome emotionally and physically.”

Poe agreed.

“Having bikes for kindergarteners would add some much-needed continuity to our program,” she said. “Our students would be confident and able to join our program at a much younger age with the bikes we already have.”

The All Kids Bike program provides 30 bikes, kickstands, helmets and pedal kits, and training for teachers and a curriculum plan for students.

Donate to the Shasta Elementary School All Kids Bike project at https://support.allkidsbike.org/shasta-elementary-school.