Curriculum has physics, mechanics
LINWOOD — Students have a new course option at Mainland Regional High School that gets them away from a standard classroom and into a working bicycle shop.
Students enter class ready to learn about bicycle repair and all the tools and parts that go into a working bike. After they learn about and perform repairs, they get the opportunity to test out their work by riding bikes around the school.
The school has always had a connection to bikes due to its location in a residential area just off the bike path, which stretches south to Somers Point and north to Northfield, two of the school’s sending districts. On any given day, there are dozens of bicycles parked outside that students used to get to class.
The bike tech class is taught by Tim Hanna, who was looking for new class ideas and landed on a bicycle workshop course. He gets help from staff members Brandon Walters and Andrew Monroe, who offer individual assistance.
“I felt that this would be an offering that kids would be excited about and enjoy,” Hanna said.
A teacher at the school for nearly 30 years, Hanna believes bicycle repair instruction includes many traditional content areas.
“I believe you can use a bicycle to teach just about anything,” he said, listing physics and geometry as examples. “Students can use the hands-on experience to continue being a bicycle mechanic or use it as a steppingstone to move up in any mechanical field.”
In the first year of the class, Hanna is teaching five sections with 99 students total. The enthusiasm from the students about the new class was evident as the roster spots filled up quickly.
Hanna reached out to a nonprofit organization called Project Bike Tech to help create the curriculum. Project Bike Tech is based in Colorado and helps high schools around the country transform classrooms into bicycle workshops. It provides a basic curriculum for the class and gives the school bikes on which the students can work.
“They are easily the difference-maker when it comes to the class. They helped set up the 10 student workstations that are fully outfitted with Park Tools, which are the industry standard,” Hanna said. “They provide a great number of starting points for the class curriculum.”
There are not many lectures or PowerPoint presentations in this class, as it is mostly focused on hands-on learning and using the textbook as a reference. One of the goals of the class is teaching tool literacy and getting students familiar with the different tools at their disposal.
Hanna showed off a drawing a student did of a hub on a bike and explained how different testing methods can be employed.
“Many of these students have mechanical aptitude, so they can look at components and their mind processes a visual understanding of how it works. They can look at the tools and know which one they need, but where they can struggle is explaining verbally,” he said. “So, I can have them draw it instead of a traditional written test because it still shows me that they understand the lesson.”
Students can show their proficiency using different tools and mechanisms without having to write an essay.
Dorsey Finn, the district’s coordinator of Planning, Instruction and Evaluation, said the class is part of the drive to offer a wider range of experiences for students.
“We are trying to make sure that kids that learn a little differently and have different interests have a place that they feel at home,” Finn said.
Students enter class throughout the day in their free time to tinker around with the bikes and ask questions. The bikes used in class are either donated from Project Bike Tech or Bike Co. of Philadelphia.
Students and staff members also are encouraged to bring their own bikes in for repairs. In addition, there are old bike frames around the class that they hope to restore and give back to the community.
Hanna got some training to teach the class and took a part-time job at a professional bicycle repair shop to prepare himself. Some of the more advanced students help the rest of the class and Hanna admits he can learn from them as well.
“I want to be a believer in a programs like this,” Finn said. “That’s why I got into education and administration, so I can empower people like Tim that had an idea that needed to be more than just an idea.”
Hanna said he started the class to create a new challenge for himself. Just a month into teaching it, he wondered why he had not done it sooner.
“Bikes are a thing people are familiar with, so it’s a great entry point into more complex systems and expanding people’s knowledge,” he said.
Finn and Hanna already have been coming up with ways to expand the program. Their first idea is adding an advanced course for students who show a great understanding of the mechanics. Another idea they had is to eventually make a competitive mountain bike team for the school.
Along with the mountain bike team would come a student-designed bicycle motocross park on campus. The BMX park would be located next to the school and Finn was adamant about wanting to have students involved in the design process.
These ideas are just goals for the future, and nothing is set in stone, but the Bike Tech class might be only the beginning.
By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel