Many of you may know that we at FAST/IF powered by Lionette's (IF Racing) are committed to giving back to the community. I teach high school, but don't think that is applicable to my other life as a cyclist. We donate monies to a scholarship fund, cycling organizations, the PMC, and donate our time too.

What follows is one of many reports you may find on this site about our commitment to our communities.


Happy Mondays

I am not talking about any 24 Hour Party People stuff here. I did not have to crucify some brother today. Yippee, yippee, yah, yah, yay, yay, yay.

Mondays for me, for the next six weeks, will consist of 11 hour work days. Thursdays too. Why is this happy? As a teacher I am nearly always concerned / stressed about something. Working with underprivileged, inner city, high school students is no ride in the park, folks. Everyday brings frustrations that out number the joys. It is these joys that we cling to. These Zen moments when everything comes together and we actually know why we are here, doing what we are doing, where no one else wants to tread. The front lines so to speak. Today was one of those days.
Today I started an after school cycling program for Boston Public Schools. Presently we have a pilot program at a middle school in Roxbury. I now, and in the past, teach high school students and primarily work with upper classmen; juniors and seniors. Today I stepped into a Middle School for the first time in 5 years. The same middle school that I started my teaching career at, for one day.
The students were so small, so young, so naive, so open, willing, contemplative, introspective. I walked into a classroom and the hands shot up with questions. I felt like royalty, a dignitary at the biggest ball in town. All these kids wanted to dance with me. The wanted to have conversations about whatever was on their minds. They held nothing back. They were free, young, not jaded. I wanted to just converse with them for hours, but I was there for a reason. Oh yeah, the reason. Good god, I do have a reason. I am there to teach them. Not about Foreign Policy or Study Skills, but about something I am even more passionate about. Cycling. Wow! I am actually here to teach them how to be safe, excited, respectful, responsible, passionate cyclists. Somebody pinch me.
Today was amazing. First, a fellow teacher who was in the middle of an ELA lesson received me at the school. She welcomed me warmly into her room. (This is a big move for many teachers. They can be very protective of their rooms and their teaching. This is a wholly other conversation though) Their teacher asked if I could answer some questions about my high school for the students and I willingly accepted. The students were respectful and every question left me hoping each student would come to our school. After many questions they got back to their lesson as I sat at the teachers table at the side of the room. The lesson they were involved in was yet another reason how this day felt like the completion of a circle, a cycle, an epic ride back home. They were reading a Robert Frost poem. It is not the subject matter, the writer, or the poetry that made this experience. It was what they were doing with the text. They were involved in a lesson on annotation. Yeah, so, you ask.
I am also presently working on a teacher research project on annotation of text. To see middle school students working on this gave my project more legitimacy. It felt that the outcomes of my research could span the grade, ages, of all students. I saw the deeper necessity of the project; the greater application.
Soon I was in a borrowed classroom with ten, hand picked students who desired to learn more about bikes. It was a dream. We talked, did activities, got to know each other and began to understand the need to trust one another. It is on this trust that we will build an experience that I hope will stay with these students forever. When I get stressed, I ride my bikes. My hope is that these students will also use bicycles as not only a vehicle for transportation but also as a vehicle to transport themselves to a better mental and physical state.

More to come, I am sure.

Thanks to the following for making this program possible:
ClifBar, Hub On Wheels ,The Digital Bridge Foundation, and everyone that has worked so hard behind the scenes.