Let's Go - Across the State

Cascade has been providing youth bike education to Seattle and Edmonds public schools since 2016, teaching upward of 25,000 Puget Sound-area children bike and pedestrian safety skills to begin their lifelong joy of safe bicycling and walking. Now, that curriculum is expanding statewide thanks to the creation of the School-Based Bicycle Safety Education Program administered by the Washington State Department of Transportation, which selected Cascade to design and implement this expansion. 

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Cascade is working with educators across the state to implement the statewide bike education programs, which will phase in over 16 years and are expected to reach 90 percent of Washington state students by 2039. Equity is central to this expansion as Cascade is prioritizing partners who serve communities where equity, safety, and community plans point to the highest needs.

In the pilot year of the program (2023-2024 school year) Cascade has partnered with six large school districts: Spokane, Tacoma, Bellingham, Highline, Everett, and Vancouver, and two Education Service Districts (ESD): North Central Educational Service District 171 and Northwest Educational Service District 189. These partner districts are planning to implement the program through Physical Education classes in over 45 schools across Washington state.

Together, these educational partners are implementing the program in PE classes in over 150 elementary schools across WA state.

Student Impact

"A fourth grader who has spina bifida was very excited to work hard in learning to ride a bike. He had never been on a bike, but was eager to learn. He went from walking to striding to being able to get to the pedals for about 5 seconds by the end of the unit. Our physical therapist spent time with him once a week during the unit with the strider bike and attended PE to provide extra support for this student. At the end of the unit, this student’s family expressed their excitement to continue to teach him how to ride a bike and to work with him at home. The family was looking into buying him a bike and expressed how neat it was to see their son so passionate about this!

My entire staff expressed how neat this program was and how thankful they were for me to take this on and teach our students. One of our staff members who is hardly ever excited about anything, pulled me aside to share what a huge impact this bike unit had on her students. She is really looking forward to this unit coming back next year and beyond, along with the rest of my staff."

Thanks to our Partners

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