Santa Barbara Middle School, Calfornia

The “bikingest” school in the country
by Ralph Fertig

January 6, 2002

Students leave Mike's Place to bike to school. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

Buzz went my alarm at 5:30 AM. It was dark, but I got up because I had a biking date. It was dry outside, but the online radar showed incoming rain. Not good.
Would the kids show up? Probably all their parents would drive them instead of allowing them to contend with rain in city traffic. I considered calling it off, but instead dressed for rain and biked to Mike's Place, the restaurant where they meet each Friday.
As I approached, what was that? —a mob of bikes! And 13 kids plus three adults, eating breakfast on the outdoor terrace. With a light rain falling!
The kids were from Santa Barbara Middle School, an independent school for grades 6-9, located in Santa Barbara, California. On their own, a few students started a "Breakfast Club" each Friday on their way to school. From those few, it has grown by word of mouth to over 20 students at a time.
Everybody was eating and chatting, but it was soon time to ride. Helmets on, jackets zipped up, backpacks shouldered. The mile ride to school was done with careful single-file riding, watching for cars, foot-down stopping at signals and stop signs, with warnings like "car back" called out. I pedaled and wondered, could this heart-warming scene be replicated elsewhere?

Home of Santa Barbara Middle School. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

Santa Barbara Middle School was founded in 1976 by a group of parents, teachers and students who sought to create an innovative, challenging academic program. For the first few years, the school culture was similar to many others. Just when the staff was thinking of adding outdoor activities in 1979, their new headmaster and cycling enthusiast Kent Ferguson came on board. Kent thought that a cycling trip would be just the ticket to introduce kids to the great outdoors, so it happened.
The school's first bike trip took place in 1980. It was optional, and some students choose not to go. But the experience was very satisfying for those who did, so cycling was made a mandatory part of the school program. "Mother nature," observed Kent, "is the best teacher."
Twenty years ago, the trips were road trips. The whole school would drive to a location like Utah, and ride for miles on quiet roads. But now, because those same roads are jammed with high-speed cars and RVs, the school has shifted to more off-road trips. Mountain biking started when they were in Durango, Colorado, about eight years ago, when they rented mountain bikes for a ride. Since then, it's just grown.

School Headmaster Steve Lane. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

Santa Barbara Middle School now has 164 students and 34 teachers. When the kids show up for their first day of school, they arrive with paper and pencils, bicycles and helmets, ready to explore the world. On their third day, they all go on an orientation bike ride.
The outdoor trip program consists of three mandatory week-long trips. The October and May trips are sagged bike trips. The third one is a March self-contained tour that can be done either by backpack or by bike with an attached trailer.
The trips are challenging. Sometimes the kids, says today's headmaster Steve Lane, "are out of their comfort zone, and they're going to have to rise to a higher ground." On a typical day, they're up at 6:30, breakfast is at 7:00, then a safety meeting's at 8:00 . After that, they ride. Some days, they are with their bikes for eight hours. Once in camp, they have to set up tents, prepare dinner, and have an evening gathering.
Day by day, the students gain new respect for the school's cycling staff who become more than classroom teachers. They also gain self confidence and learn that they can travel long distances by bike. Parents are always invited along on the rides, and some usually accept. That benefits the program in two ways: the extra hands are helpful in managing logistics, and the parents bear witness to the trip, returning to tell others about the strengths of the program. Steve notes with pride that those parents invariably testify that it was a great experience. The trips are not easy, and nobody thinks of them as fun trips at the time. Then months later, when the kids gain more perspective, they look back on trips as fun times.

Students unload bikes and prepare to climb up a local trail. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

The school's philosophy is that education should be more than classroom courses. They view education as a portfolio with four aspects: academics, electives (such as arts and sports), community outreach, and the outdoor trips. Each aspect provides an education that the others cannot. Headmaster Lane, himself a former competitive road and track cyclist, feels that the outdoor trips provide a learning experience that uses bicycling as a tool. However, that tool might be kayaking or backpacking as well. The learning comes from meeting a challenge in nature through teamwork and cooperation toward common goals. Each night on trips, they sit around a campfire and talk about life. Recently, that included reading excerpts from Lance Armstrong's book It's Not About the Bike.
Bicycling is nevertheless the tool Santa Barbara Middle School has chosen. It's an integral part of the school's identity. The students passed the million mile mark a few years back. The bicycle wheel is incorporated into the school's logo. And they consider themselves "the bikingest school in the country."

Teacher John Seigel-Boettner. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

"The bike is a wonderful thing," noted the sixth grade dean John Seigel-Boettner, "for 12 and 13 and 14-year olds. Before they get their car keys, it's an incredible freeing experience. To our generation, it's just what you did. To this generation, it's a whole new thing. And I'd like it to come back." Typical of teachers at the school, John wears many hats. He teaches social studies, volleyball, bike maintenance, mountain biking, and helps students plan their bike tours. Outside of school, he helps organize and lead summer bike tours around the US and abroad. His book Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America? describes the adventures encountered during a summer bike ride with five kids. His vision is to show all kids how to get around town without Mom or Dad taking them there.
The bike program effects families in different ways. For parent Michael Kwan, bicycling has become a means of bonding and spending more time with his son Ted. He comments, "I've never been quite so accepted among my son's classmates until I tried to ride with them. I can't keep up with them, but that doesn't seem to bother them. In fact, the attitude I sense among a lot of the kids is that if you can't keep up but at least you try, that seems to be OK with them."
Another father, already an avid bicycling enthusiast and commuter is David Lawson. Last fall, he and his wife enrolled their daughter Sarah at the school. Previously, she had little interest in biking, but after her first trip, she's seriously talking about cycling across the country.

Students gather to ride bike trails in a local park. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

Because Santa Barbara Middle School is a small private school, it's free of most state regulations that constrain large public schools. Steve observes, "I don't see a large public school emptying out and being on the road somewhere." Expense is certainly a factor because multi-day tours can be expensive. Santa Barbara Middle School has invested years in fine tuning its program. For example, they have a list of recommended bikes and accessories for the students; a school store that sells bike parts, accessories and clothing; and a group of students who study and perform bike maintenance.
Certainly, other private schools are free to integrate bike trips into their curriculum. And public schools could offer summer or afternoon bicycling programs. In addition, any parent or teacher or student can initiate a "bike breakfast club" before school. There is much in this rich program that can be copied and used elsewhere.

As the line of kids, biking to school, turned onto an unfamiliar road, I followed. Then they left the road, entered a path through a park amid trees and rocks, and emerged near the back of their school. I followed, I learned something new, I laughed as rain ran over my face, and I watched our future ride on ahead.

Resources

Welcoming signs made by friends and parents of returning students line approach roads. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

Find out more about Santa Barbara Middle School at www.sbms.org. You can purchase their video There's No Place Like Home that shows the kids on their 2001 end-of-year trip; contact the school by email at office@sbms.org or by phone 805-682-2989 for details. You can also purchase the book Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America? directly from the author by sending a check for $17.95 payable to John Seigel-Boettner at PO Box 91616, Santa Barbara, CA 93190.