Gearing up for ABC Challenge
How can we build community AND help youth find friends to bike with? One of the easy ways is to celebrate active transportation as a school community. So we are planning a school challenge week April 28th to May 3, geared to high school and junior high schools across Calgary and Area.
We tasked the kids on our Youth Advisory Council to build on Roll out Carbon Week from last year, and make it their own.
They are calling it the Anything But a Car (ABC ) Challenge week – and the goal is to battle School vs School in a mode-shift show down. Students come up with an alternative way of transportation to get to school such as biking, scooter, walking, and public transportation or car pooling and register their trips on Commuter Challenge.
With spring arriving, our hope is ABC Challenge encourages students to continue to ride to school the rest of the school year.
How it works and signing up
Schools can sign up for the ABC Challenge using this form.
Once we have your form, we will add your school to the list and create a QR code to easily direct students and staff to sign up. Students will report their usual mode of travel. Starting April 28th, students will track the distance travelled with their new mode of transportation. This will allow us to see how many students participated, kilometers were travelled and green house emission reductions.
Last year, Bishop McNally won the school award, with 67 participants – and 300 KG of CO2 reduced. This year, our top prize, courtesy of Bike Bike, is a bike repair station for your school (a $4,000 value). There will be many individual prizes, including bikes, scooters and other equipment. (Yes, we’ll have prizes for staff and teacher participation!)
Looking for student leaders!
Our Youth Advisory Council students have been designing T-Shirts, posters and planning the event. They have received funding from the Calgary Foundation to support the event. Each participating school will get funding – at least $500 to support school initiatives – prizes, snacks, pancake breakfast – whatever students want to do.
If you would like to have a school representative on the organizing committee, please have then fill in the following form to be invited to planning meetings. (Students are paid an honorarium and build connections and leadership skills!)
Youth Advisory Council sign up
We are also happy to work with a teacher or leadership class to support the event at each school.
Want to support the kids?
We are on the hunt for great used bikes, snacks and treats, locks and bike equipment. If you can help out, please connect with Sam Hargreaves sam@youthenroute.ca We will have more details and information over the coming weeks! Stay tuned!
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