Mountview Elementary students have been busy recently exploring a whole new world just outside their doorstep.
With the instruction and tutelage of Red Shred’s Bike and Board Shed owner Mark Savard since the beginning of May, students have been learning all about mountain biking.
“I decided to do kind of a pilot project with the Mountview grades 5s and 6s, and it was good,” Savard said.
Spanning four separate classes over four days, students in Kelvin Parent’s Grade 6 class and in Marnie Grant’s Grade 5 class at the school — literally paces away from a vast riding area on the South Lakeside Trail Network — learned about mapping and technology, spent a day doing trail maintenance behind the school, learned riding skills and bike maintenance.
“Then the crescendo was the kids got to go on a three-kilometre downhill ride from the school down to Walmart,” Savard said. “We had 50 kids out with helpers.”
Savard said while it proved to be a bit of a challenge, the result was a rewarding one.
“You selflessly do it, but they’re a super unique school in they’re right up against the trail network,” he said. “You try to take it to the next level so the vision was to start mentoring kids to be the next trail ambassadors.”
Savard said, in the future, he hopes to be able to do the same thing at more schools, however, added it’s a solid time commitment to organize and instruct that many students on the trails.
“Everybody had fun, nobody got hurt, and the teachers and the principal were really supportive. It was a lot of fun.”
