Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — Riding around on their brand new bikes, 16 second-grade students at the Limestone Community School (LCS) had ear to ear grins under their helmets on May 28.
Photo contributed by Jennifer Poitras
Latoya Trenchard gets a helping hand with her brand new bike from Limestone Master Mason Timothy Poitras on May 28.
The 16 students were awarded the bikes from the Limestone Freemasons in a program called Bikes for Books; this was the first year that the Limestone organization has participated in the program, and judging from the response, it won’t be the last. Fund-raising efforts by members of the Masonic Lodge were substantial enough to have provided each student with a shiny new bike and helmet this year and will contribute significantly to encouraging next year’s second-graders to get geared up for reading.
“The program went really well and probably exceeded expectations in regard to the money we were able to raise and the community response,” said Master Mason Timothy Poitras. His favorite part of the event was seeing the excitement on the children’s faces as they walked out of the school doors to see a row of sticker new bikes waiting to be claimed as their own.
As an incentive to read, the Masons agreed to award bikes to students who read 1,000 minutes between April 5 and May 14; the students spent about half of that time reading during school hours and the other half was spend reading at home.
With the great bike award comes great safety responsibility, and the Masons contacted the Limestone Police Department to teach the young readers bike safety skills.
Photo contributed by Jennifer Poitras
Freemason Nick Poitras helps Limestone second-grader Madison Smith fasten her brand new bike helmet.
Limestone Police Officer Eagle engaged the students in a bike safety discussion involving how to properly wear their helmet, what to wear while riding and how to properly signal their movements.
“They did really well,” Officer Eagle said, mentioning that many of the youths already knew how the proper hand signals. Aside from reminding the students to wear bright clothing that’s tight enough to avoid having fabric get caught in the bike chain, Officer Eagle reinforced the importance of staying visible while bike riding and following traffic principles.
“Bikes ride with the traffic and you walk against traffic,” he emphasized.
Students also registered their bikes with the police department during the event so that the bikes will be able to be returned to their owners should any be misplaced or stolen.
Photo contributed by Jennifer Poitras
Second-grade teacher Kristie Adams helps Tiffany King adjust to her brand new bike; King was one of 16 students awarded the bike for having read a total of 1,000 minutes between April 5 and May 14.
Photo contributed by Jennifer Poitras
Wyatt Fulton, center, takes his new bike on a spin through the safety course set up at the Limestone Community School on May 28 with his classmates including, back left, Eddie Mignacca and Anthony Booth.
