Report from a SuperCollege Professor

Contributed by Dr. Pat Sherblom, Professor at UT-Permian Basin

We had five teaching students in the preprofessional track go through the SuperCyclist training this spring. They then took their knowledge out to the Boys and Girls Club and taught four lessons to children there. We used the paint chalk sent by BikeTexas Teacher Training Manager Brenda Chuleewah to paint a “bicycle safety city” in the parking lot. My students taught the children the Seven Laws and the parts of a bicycle, before they were allowed to take turns riding through the “city”. During that activity, the children who did not have a bicycle to ride either used the handlebars that we made, modeled after the ones Brenda sent us, or they served as sheriffs and deputies, passing out warnings and tickets to other children who violated any of the laws.

In the next lesson they learned how to take off the front wheel, check for leaks in the tire, repair them, and replace the wheel and tire. The next day they did the same with the rear tire. In this way we refurbished five bicycles that the Club had collected, but that were not in good condition. I think that the program touched about forty children ages 6-12 in the four weeks we were there. My teacher candidates each took a CD with them so they can use it in the future.

BikeTexas trained Dr. Sherblom and a graduate student, Charles Johnson in the SuperCyclist Curriculum on June 16, 2008. By participating in the Texas SuperCollege Project, a college agrees to incorporate the SuperCyclist Curriculum into one or more teacher certification courses. The goal is for these student teachers to go on and teach bicycle safety to children for their entire teaching career.