As Published - BikeTexas Today - Bike Smarts & Education - August - October 2004
 
On May 10, the Texas Bicycle Coalition traveled to the far South Texas town of Lasara to conduct a SuperCyclist 2.0 training for 26 elementary school teachers and two faculty members of UT-Pan American (Edinburg). TBC Education Director Laura King, Margaret E. Valenti, and SuperCyclist Certified Instructor (SCI) Preston Tyree conducted the six-hour training, held at Lasara Community Center. The training brought TBCEF closer to achieving its goal for fiscal 2004 to train 100 teachers in our curriculum.

The Lasara training originated with a phone call from Lasara ISD Coach Jacinto Sauceda, who contacted TBC in February looking for grant money to purchase athletic equipment. TBC didn't have the funds needed to fulfill Coach Sauceda's request, but offered to train teachers from his district in SuperCyclist for free – as long as he could round up a minimum of 10 teachers from his district. Because his school enrolls only 300 students, Coach Sauceda agreed to recruit teachers from other schools. He gained the support of Lasara Principal and Superintendent Dr. Cornelio Gonzalez, and TBC set the date. Region One Health Promoter Clara Contreras and Region Two Health Promoter Adel Fuentes also took initiative in helping TBC to publicize the training and recruit teachers to participate. TBC is grateful for their assistance.

As is common in many TBC activities, some of the teachers were regular bicyclists, but some had not been on a bike for years. Our training got all the participants on their bikes – and their minds on bicycle safety. TBC has already begun training workshops in El Paso (see page 12). Other tentative locations are Keene (just south of Ft. Worth), Amarillo, Edinburg and LaJoya. Teachers who wish to attend a training in their school district should call the TBC office at (512) 476-7433.