Rundle Elementary essay winners’ reward: New bicycles
Over 150 students at Rundle Elementary gathered in a circle on the school’s playground, many hurdling over two rows of brand new bikes that stood behind the crowd.
Joanna Piette, president of Breakaway Cycling, stood beside principal Lenette Reece, preparing to announce the names of about 20 students in kindergarten through fifth grade who had won an essay contest focused on how kindness has changed the world. Their prize was a new bike.
One of the prize winners at the Jan. 19 ceremony was a surprised Wyland Mikelson, 10.
“My essay was about adopting animals that are abandoned by their owners if they just don’t care or can’t support the animals anymore,” he said. “It’s important to save them because they are living animals and it’s a lot of pain for them … just isn’t right.”
Mikelson’s bike was black with yellow handlebars and rims. Others ranged in color, size and style, depending on the age group. All bikes were accompanied with locks and helmets; each set cost about $130, Piette said. Breakaway Cycling collected money from donors to purchase the bikes.
“We used to do raffles for bikes, but we’ve turned it into something students have to earn …” she said. “Our management team reads (the essays) and we pick the winners from there. We like to do 20 or more bikes at each school to make an impact. But that way they earn it.”
Breakaway Cycling was created in 2016 as a way to get kids on bikes, Piette said. Last year, it partnered with about 10 schools, giving away 20 to 25 bikes at each — a total of 593. Rundle parnered with Breakaway Cycling for a similar contest last year.
“We wanted the kids to just reflect on some of their own acts of kindness,” Reece said. “We are working to teach them how to change the world.”
The awards are one way to keep kids engaged, Piette added.
“It’s a lot of work, but you feel it,” she said. “When you see the kids squeal and jump up and down and yell out to their friends and parents that they just won a bicycle, it means everything.”
Contact Mia Sims at msims@
How to help
To donate to Breakaway Cycling’s ongoing bicycle purchases for children, visit breakawaycycling.org/donate.
