Fort Wayne Community Schools
Students at Bloomingdale Elementary will participate in Bike-to-School Day on Wednesday, May 9, with nearly 50 students expected to ride their bikes to school.
Fort Wayne Community Schools is partnering with the Fort Wayne Police Department and Parkview Health to celebrate National Bike-to-School Day. The event is also part of Kickstart Fort Wayne, a month-long community celebration of bikes, art, music and theater.
Last week, Fort Wayne Police Bike Patrol Officers and members of Parkview Health’s trauma team visited Bloomingdale to talk to students about bike safety. Parkview provided bike helmets for students participating in the Bike-to-School event. Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of bicycle-related head injury by about 80 percent, but most bike riders do not wear helmets, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Wednesday, Bloomingdale students living close to the school are invited to bike or walk to school. Temporary bike racks provided by the city will be available for students to park their bikes.
In addition to teaching students how to travel safely, the event is also designed to build awareness in the community that there are additional children on the roads traveling to and from school. And with summer break just three weeks away, adult drivers must be aware of an increased number of children walking, riding bikes and playing outside.