Evergreen Community Charter School awarded Specialized Foundation school bike program grant

From Evergreen Community Charter School:

Asheville’s Evergreen Community Charter School Awarded Specialized Foundation School Bike Program Grant

Asheville, NC., July 6, 2016, – The Specialized Foundation announced the nine schools nationwide that were selected out of a pool of 200 applicants to receive a grant to begin the cycling program, Riding For Focus, starting in Fall 2016. Riding for Focus is the cycling program developed by The Specialized Foundation that integrates cycling into physical education classes as a way to help students in the classroom.

“We’re grateful to the Specialized Foundation for giving Evergreen Community Charter School this opportunity to expand upon our role as innovators in utilizing physical education to help grow healthy bodies and minds among our students,” said Development and Communications Coordinator Jody Flemming. “We also appreciate our local Specialized dealer, Motion Makers, for sponsoring our application and for providing free maintenance for the new fleet of bikes.”

Evergreen Community Charter School is one of nine schools that will receive support, training, and equipment with the goal of creating a lasting cycling program in that school for at least two years. Specifically, each school will receive up to 30 youth bikes and helmets, a starter maintenance kit, program curriculum, and a trip for the Program Champion to Specialized Headquarters for program training and support.
“We are extremely excited to roll out this program to an additional nine schools throughout the nation. We look forward to seeing the positive impact this has on each of the students and on the community that will inevitably also benefit from this program,” said Lucy August-Perna, Specialized Advocacy Manager.

The Specialized Foundation uses cycling as a tool to help kids achieve academic, health, and social success. Riding for Focus is designed to introduce students to cycling’s positive effects on health, wellbeing, and academic performance, with a particular focus on students with learning differences such as ADHD. The curriculum has been built based on research done by a third party research organization that studied the impact of cycling on middle school students.

Mike Sinyard, Specialized Founder and CEO, stated, “At Specialized we are a company built of riders and have each been transformed through cycling in one way or another. The Specialized Foundation and Riding for Focus program is our way to contribute to future generations and do our part to create a healthier world for our children. We believe in the power of the bicycle and its ability to transform lives, we get to start here.”

About The Specialized Foundation:
The Specialized Foundation is the non-profit arm of Specialized Bicycle Components. It was created with the intention of introducing students to cycling’s positive effects on health, wellbeing, and academic performance, with a particular focus on students with learning differences like ADHD.