Keeping kids safe: how a Rockford elementary school’s bike club goes the extra mile

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Constance Lane Elementary School launched a bike club at the start of the school year to address transportation challenges.

Principal Brian Doering explained that certain neighborhoods have been identified as hotspots where transportation is particularly challenging.

“Bussing is provided for any students who live in, more than a mile and a half from school. But inside that radius, they get themselves to school each day,” said Principal Brian Doering.

While parents approved of the bike club, Doering noted their initial concern: “The first question that we had for a lot of parents was, okay, this sounds great, but I don’t want my child riding a bike on their own.”

Charles Wyatt, known by students as Mr. C, supervises the students as they bike to and from school. Wyatt, who was already a lunch aid, took on the role of supervising the students as they biked to school each morning and back home each afternoon.

“All the kids like me anyway. So, I was like, I might as well just do it for the fun of it. And then I just turned out liking it,” he said.

Parents have expressed their trust in Wyatt, knowing he is looking out for their children.

“Parents, they’re like sending my baby out in the morning, but they knew it was me, and they knew I’ve watched their babies regardless. So, they’re like, okay, Mr. C got ’em,” he shared.

Doering emphasized the importance of the program, stating, “For this core group of students, it has made a difference where nothing else really did. And I think really, it’s a signal that we are going to be creative. We’re going to go outside the box. We’re going to do everything that we can here to try to meet your needs.”

Currently, there are more than two dozen students participating in the bike club.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WTVO. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WTVO staff before being published.