Greene County students took part in National Bike to School Day last week.

Greene County Elementary Physical Education Teacher Sean Thompson is in his third year of doing National Bike to School Day and says every year it has grown. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio the first year there were 60 students, last year there were 90 students, and this past Wednesday there were 170 students and about 25 parents and teachers that joined in. He talked about how the popularity of biking has grown within the community.

“I’m just excited that it’s gotten this far. I heard all day on Wednesday, I heard them say, ‘I can’t believe I got to ride to school by myself.’ That’s just something that sometimes they may not to do that a lot of.” 

Additionally, Thompson’s other passion is ensuring that every fourth grader has a bicycle. 

“Because I felt like when you leave fourth grade, you’re kind of starting to be an independent student. You’re going to be going to the middle school, you may be starting to ride a bike to the pools, and (a)  friend’s house, things like that. So I’ve that if we could get enough bikes for all fourth graders to be able to ride places independently, that was one of my goals to do this.”   

Thompson says he sent out a survey to find out how many fourth grade families had a bike. The survey identified 16 families that didn’t have a bike, but would accept one if there was an opportunity. The Jefferson Kiwanis Club donated 12 and there were three community families that donated the rest. Thompson is appreciative of everyone’s support and participation with this project.