Newhall Elementary School hosted an event for its kindergarten and transitional kindergarten students on Monday morning aimed at helping children build confidence, promote independence and learn about safety by using helmets while they ride bicycles.
Honda donated 24 bicycles and helmets for the young students and helped Newhall Elementary kick off its “All Kids Bike” event.
“I just think that having children ride bikes and being outside … playing outside, is so important for their development,” said Leticia Hernandez, superintendent of the Newhall School District.
The children were laughing, smiling and pedaling on the new bicycles around the small track during the fun-filled morning.
Newhall Elementary was also the inaugural school on the West Coast to receive Honda’s donations of the bikes.
“Oh, it feels great. I mean, it feels awesome. You know, again, it brings a lot of joy to our students. You can just see the smiles on their faces,” said Israel Arauz, assistant principal at Newhall Elementary.
Arauz said that there is no better feeling than being on a bike, especially for young children.
“I think, you know, we can be sort of limited to what we’re able to do outside. But to be able to ride a bike, it provides freedom that you’re not going to get with any other sort of play equipment out there, right,” Arauz said. “They’re able to kind of move from place to place on two wheels. And that’s such a great feeling.”
Arauz added that students might not have bicycles at home, so getting this opportunity is great.
“I don’t know what the home lives of our students are. I don’t know if they own bikes, but at school, they’re able to ride a bike, right? They have that opportunity now. And who knows? I mean, they may grow to love it, and they may ask for a bike,” Arauz said. “Christmas is coming. And, you know, just sort of like instill that joy of riding on a bike. Again, like I said, it’s a feeling that you can’t recreate unless you’re actually on a bike.”
Principal Jackeline Tapia was unavailable for comment but did release a prepared statement.
“This program will have a meaningful impact on our transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students by giving them the confidence and joy that come with learning to ride a bike,” Tapia said in the news release. “For many of our youngest learners, this will be their first experience gaining a sense of independence and accomplishment.”
