Mission

CYCLE Kids is committed to working with schools in underserved, racially diverse communities to ensure the basic rights of children to a physically and emotionally healthy start in life, all through falling in love with riding a bicycle. We give schools in diverse, underserved communities a program to help their students develop confidence and gain new skills to meet life's challenges head-on.

We currently have over 1,000 Native American children in Navajo Nation in our programs, with grants to reach an additional 800 next year. Each year we reach over 4,000 children in some of the most economically depressed and racially diverse communities in the country, and this number continues to grow.

What We Do

Children living in poverty face many challenges each and every day. Sometimes school is the only safe place for a child. CYCLE Kids gets kids riding bikes and gives them a chance to laugh, feel confident, and forget the struggle each day may
bring. They learn they can be happy and can strive for something better. Combining the fun and practical skill of riding a bike with healthy nutrition puts kids on a path to success.

The CYCLE Kids Program

CYCLE Kids gets children riding in school by providing bikes and a curriculum along with training for teachers. Children learn about nutrition, they learn how to ride a bike, they get exercise and most importantly, the fun and freedom they feel when riding a bike helps them develop confidence and independence. The simple act of riding a bike creates so many
amazing memories that it's hard to imagine a child not having this experience.

The CYCLE Kids program, developed with partners at Boston University, was purposely designed to be cost-effective, efficient, and impactful with its integration into schools and communities. Schools receive bicycles and helmets, a teaching curriculum, teacher training, evaluation materials, and Student Kits. The curriculum is engaging and accessible to elementary school children.

The curriculum is taught by school staff who have relationships with the children, helping to build rapport and trust, leading to mentoring relationships developing between the teachers and their students. The trust our program builds between children and teachers helps schools learn about problems at home, including food insecurity. This provides an opportunity
for some schools to give children bags of groceries to bring home, or provide other support as needed.

The program is adaptable to different settings, operating in urban schools such as New York City and Boston, or rural schools in the Ozark Mountains and Navajo Nation. It is research-based, and meets national core learning standards for
physical education and nutrition.

"CYCLE Kids has an extremely positive impact on my students. Their confidence grows as they become more assured of themselves riding the bikes. I hear positive feedback from staff, that ever since I started this program students have more energy. Their excitement to ride bikes makes them work harder in the classroom."
-4th grade CK Teacher