PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School District will provide student bicycle safety training beginning in the fall.
The district has received a $25,000 grant from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide bicycle and safety education to students in the fifth through eighth grades.
The program, which will be kicked off at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year and continue through the following school year, includes training, curriculum, educational materials, evaluation and support administered by OSPI and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.
It will be modeled after the Safe Routes to School Bike and Pedestrian Safety Education Program project.
The district’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Advisory Committee will oversee it.
Ten physical education teachers will attend a two-day training session with the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Feet First to learn about curriculum resources.
Other expenses include the purchase of bicycles, a trailer for bicycle storage and transport, helmets and essential services and equipment related to the program.
In its grant proposal, the district said it hoped to increase the number of children walking and biking to school while increasing both their safety and their awareness of transportation choices.
For more information about the grant, phone Assistant Superintendent Michelle Reid at 360-457-8575.