Pedal Power

Kids. Bikes. Going Places.

Pedal Power is excited to embark on another year of bike adventures through the city! And we need your support to make it happen.

Our goal this Give to The Max Day is to raise $15,000 to ensure that Minneapolis kids keep biking, learning, and exploring in their schools.

Pedal Power has achieved significant milestones this year, including expanding into our SIXTH Minneapolis Public School — Marcy Arts Elementary! Now that we are operating in six schools, our repair & upkeep costs are higher, and we are in need of donor support to keep all of our bike fleets and equipment in good condition.

Because of our community's generosity, hundreds of students now have the opportunity to learn how to bike by the 5th grade. Our bike adventures are full of smiles, confidence building, and turn into lifelong memories for kids! Donors like you make our school bike education possible and free for every participant.

What Your Donations Fund:

• Bike Repairs and Maintenance: Ensuring our bike fleets are safe and operational.
• Storage: Building and upkeep of our secure bike fleet storage units.
• Safety Gear — Providing helmets for each student, reflective vests, and high visibility gear for all students & volunteers.
• Inclusive Equipment: Funding tandem and adaptive bikes, along with support staff, so every student can join in.
• Teacher Support: Acknowledging the invaluable work of teachers who go above and beyond their regular duties, often without compensation.
• Essential Supplies: Covering additional equipment and materials needed for our programs.

LEARN TO BIKE. BIKE TO LEARN.

Pedal Power is a successful bike education program operating in six diverse Minneapolis public schools: Marcy, Las Estrellas, Waite Park, Pillsbury, Webster, and Field.

As one of the first, and arguably the best, school-based biking programs around, Pedal Power serves as a functional model for other schools and districts. Our 4th and 5th grade classes go out for weekly rides with their teachers, use bikes instead of buses for field trips when possible, and ride year-round with an after-school group to locations all over Minneapolis. Students study science, history, art and more—then they bike to locations for hands-on learning experiences. They develop a strong connection with their neighborhood and build confidence, persistence, and grit. Their safety green shirts and hoodies bring smiles and waves from neighbors and fellow cyclists along the way.

Getting Started

Nine years ago, two veteran teachers realized that about half of the 4th and 5th grade students at their Northeast Minneapolis school did not know how to ride a bike. EL Teacher, Mark Trumper and Art teacher, Susan Tuck decided in that moment to work toward changing those numbers—one bike and one new rider at a time. Dozens of small grants funded a growing bike fleet, and volunteers were recruited to teach kids how to balance, pedal and shift gears. Trumper and Tuck volunteered hundreds of hours to bring biking to a school where almost all of the students are on subsidized lunch programs and more than half do not speak English at home.

Accomplishments 

Students have led rides during the Winter Cycling Congress, presented at the Youth Bike Summit, used their mechanical skills helping out at FreeBikes4Kids (FB4K) work sessions, and learned about much more than just riding bikes and navigating the City. Pedal Power has been recognized with Awards from the City of Minneapolis, Bike MN, and Our Streets Minneapolis, and been featured by People for Bikes, several local news stations, and is helping to shape the growing demand for universal bike education in Minneapolis. 

Donate now to help keep Pedal Power moving forward!

Contact: 

Mark Trumper and Susan Tuck 

PedalPowerMN@gmail.com