POLSON - If you happen to drive by Polson Middle School, you might notice a large group of students outside riding around on mountain bikes.
This is thanks to a “Riding For Focus” grant that awarded the middle school 30 Specialized Rockhopper mountain bikes.
The program promotes cycling as an outlet for students to improve cognitive, physical, and social well-being.
“Give them confidence on a bike and also to teach them basic road skills on how to be safe when riding on a road,” said Polson Middle School PE teacher Jordan Gurgiolo.
Polson is the first school in Montana to receive the grant.
“Some kids really know what they’re doing, I have some kids though who have never ridden a bike, so they’re learning balance, they’re learning just some of the basic skills,” added Gurgiolo.
Around 200 Polson students will learn valuable lessons on riding bikes during PE Class over the next six weeks.
“Something different, something that maybe can connect more kids to PE," Gurgiolo said. "I know a lot of kids maybe don’t love running, maybe they don’t love ball sports, stuff like that, so this just captures a wider range of kids to just love being active.”
Gurgiolo told MTN News the kids are learning all new types of skills and techniques on the bikes that they can eventually take with them outside of the classroom.
“Not only how to ride a bike, but we’re also teaching a little bit just about bike maintenance and how to take care of your bike so that when they’re at home when they’re riding, they know how to keep their bike going,” said Gurgiolo.
Eighth grade student Kami Schmeusser is having fun riding around with all her classmates.
“This is a lot of people and it’s just like fun because you get to see how other people ride.”
