By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Ruben Chavira Elementary and Lamar Elementary School are introducing bicycle courses for
their students.
Kindergarten students at Ruben Chavira Elementary were brought to their school’s gym on
Monday morning and were surprised with bicycles they will use in future school classes. The
bicycles give physical education (P.E.) teachers the opportunity lead a curriculum, created by
the All Kids Bike program, for teaching children how to ride bicycles designed for kindergartners.
Jake Carsten, board member of the Del Rio Parks Foundation,
said the Parks Foundation has been working to bring these programs to schools in coordination
with the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District (SFDR-CISD)
Superintendent Dr. Carlos Rios.
The bicycles were donated by Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas. Jennifer
Knoulton, vice president of Community Health & Wellness for Methodist Healthcare Ministries,
said the faith-based non-profit organization has had a huge presence in Del Rio. She said her
organization wanted to give back to the community by providing the bicycles to Ruben Chavira.
Lamar Elementary School unveiled bikes for their students on Tuesday morning. Carsten said the bicycles for Lamar were donated by the Friends of Val Verde Health and Wellness (The Bargain Box).
Carol Sunderland, principal at Ruben Chavira Elementary, said she was introduced the idea of
the All Kids Bike program by Carsten during the summer. Sunderland mentioned how “very
happy” she is to give an opportunity to students who may not be able to ride a bicycle and learn
skills for outdoor activities.
“The main purpose (of the program) is to get kids to ride bikes and go outside exploring again,
which many kids are not doing nowadays,” Sunderland said.
Robert Estrado, kindergarten teacher at Ruben Chavira, said it was a great feeling seeing the
excitement in his students’ faces when seeing the bicycles for the first time. Estrado added that
students can go home and tell their parents about the fun things they got to do at school.
Patty Benavidez, the head P.E. coach at Ruben Chavira, took the children around the gym on
Monday morning by walking with their bicycles to give them a glimpse of what classes will be
like. Benavidez said she is appreciative of the bicycles being donated to Ruben Chavira. She
said her students lit up with excitement when they saw the bicycles.
Benavidez said the students will use the bicycles without pedals during the first semester to
teach them how to practice balancing. The pedals will be put on during future classes later in
the school year to allow the students to learn how to fully ride a bicycle.
