Woodland Elementary parents, students establish ‘bike bus’

A social media trend that has grown in certain areas of the nation has now come to Graham. Parents and students of Woodland Elementary School have begun what is known as a “bike bus” — where groups of people meet together to ride bikes to school.

Kendra Irby, a parent of a student at Woodland Elementary, discovered the idea from a TikTok she saw online. Groups of students and adults in Portland, Ore. began riding their bikes to school as one big group, instead of driving their cars or taking other transportation.

Irby thought it would be a fun idea to try here in Graham and she’s already gotten groups together to do two rides with the hopes it becomes a regular activity in the future.

The group will ride each Monday morning there’s school, starting at First Presbyterian Church in Graham and traveling about a mile to Woodland Elementary School. The route isn’t complicated as they ride down Rogers Drive, turn on Rolling Hills Drive and continue until they get to the school.

The plan each Monday morning is to leave at 7:20 a.m. so that there’s no chance of any students being late for school. With the sunrise coming later this past week, the group waited a bit longer for some more light before heading out.

Irby leads the “bus” at the front and has one of her adult friends at the rear to ensure no students fall out of sight. The first ride that occurred Monday, Oct. 9, there were around 16 students involved while a lot of parents followed behind in their cars to ensure safety.

The first ride a few weeks ago was overseen by the Student Resource Officer Blake Davis. Irby originally reached out to the Graham Police Department chief to ensure hosting an activity like this wouldn’t cause any problems.

“(The police chief) said that if we needed (Officer Davis) that they would (get him to supervise),” Irby said. “Then we talked to the principals, superintendent and all that and got them to share the word.”

The route that the group travels to school Monday mornings doesn’t cross any busy roads but Irby would like to get more parents involved to ensure an even safer experience for the students.

“I would love some more parent riders. It would be nice to have some more parent riders because we kind of need (them),” Irby said. “The kids like to take up the whole road…and we kind of need somebody to ride beside them so that they don’t take up the whole road.”

The group’s most recent ride, Monday, Oct. 23, saw a much smaller group of students but Irby hopes that as word gets around the group will continue to grow. She believes it’s an excellent way to get the school week started on a right note and that this will become a regular activity throughout the school year.