Camille, 13, from Global Village, rebuilds a bicycle with the tools and knowledge given to her at the workshop.

Global Village youth participate in The Blue Bicycle Activity

Youth from Global Village Therapeutic Foster Care participated in a workshop called The Blue Bicycle Activity in which they learned teamwork skills by repairing bicycles.
            “The purpose of the workshop was to teach the kids about repairing bikes and how to work together,” said Lance Becvar, youth counselor from Global Village North.
“In the beginning, the kids were all separated, doing their own thing, but as time went on they began to work together. It was definitely effective socially.”
            The bicycles that the youths repaired were donated from community agencies. Each youth received a bike of his or her own, along with a helmet, light, lock, bell and stickers for the bicycles they earned.
            At the workshop, the youth learned not only how to repair bikes, but how to maintain and rebuild them. The youth learned how to determine tire leaks, when a bike needs to be greased and when repairs need to be made on a bicycle. They even took bicycles apart to learn about the different parts.
            “Basically we wanted the kids to have an appreciation of how a bike is made and to become familiar with them, so they can know what to do if a bike needs to be fixed,” said Becvar said. "Learning this new skill may have made them think about repairing bikes as a new hobby or occupation."
            A pizza party was held for the youth on Nov. 18 to celebrate the end of the workshop.
            “It was fun,” Becvar said. “It was kind of chaotic in the beginning because this kid was working on this and this one needs help with that, but they were overall very cooperative. It was hard for them to learn all of that in six weeks, but they did. It may have been tough but it was a positive experience and now they all have bikes.”

Shay, 16, fixes a bike tire at the Blue Bicycle Headquarters.

 

 

Sept. 18, 2008