Lantana Couple Funds Blanton Bike-Riding Program

by Steve Gamel

It wasn’t that long ago when children were on their bicycles all the time. You could drive down any street or through a winding neighborhood and see countless kids having races with their friends, riding their bikes to and from school, or popping wheelies for fun in the front yard. Bicycles were everywhere, and learning to ride one was tops on the to-do list.

These days, kids aren’t on their bikes as often, or at all, either because they never learned to ride, don’t have interest in it, or don’t have access to one. Well, Lantana residents Zach and Bree Parham are hoping to change that in a hurry.

Through a generous donation, the Parhams recently paid to have a complete learn-to-ride program installed at Blanton Elementary School in Lantana. The program, which is through the nonprofit, All Kids Bike, is a nationwide movement of the Strider Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that rallies parents, educators, community leaders, health officials, and generous donors to place Kindergarten PE Programs into public schools for free.

They equip schools with strider bikes, helmets, training, and everything else a teacher would need to teach children how to ride a bike during their Kindergarten PE class. Whether they are first-time riders or veterans, students develop a solid foundation of biking skills in the friendly confines of their schools.

“Our thought was that if we can help fund the program to kick it off, it will allow every kid a chance to learn to ride. And who knows, perhaps that would lead to other schools jumping on board, too,” Zach said. “All Kids Bikes has been doing this for a few years. It’s a movement that’s already going on … we just jumped on board.”

Zach and Bree, who have an 8-year-old and 11-year-old at Blanton, donated the entire $4,000 that was needed to get the Blanton program kicked off. Blanton received instructional materials for the teachers, helmets, and 22 strider bikes. Strider bikes do not have pedals and are designed to teach kids how to balance while riding a bike. Once the students master the balancing part, teachers have the option to add wheels.

The Strider Education Foundation, the program’s provider, also offers continued support for each school.

Similar programs can be set up at any school that’s interested. Per its website, All Kids Bike is currently in 29 states and has 157 funded schools — putting the number of students impacted this year at 25,227. Over the next five years, the nonprofit is anticipating that 126,495 students will be positively impacted.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to get more kids riding bikes,” Zach said.

For more information on how to get your school involved, visit allkidsbike.org.