By Izi Witt

 

 

May was Bike Month, and we were fortunate to celebrate with a few different Nashville schools!

On May 6, we celebrated National Bike and Roll to School Day with Napier Elementary School. Despite the rainy weather, dozens of students, staff, and parents gathered at Nashville Public Library’s Pruitt Branch to walk, bike, and roll to school. Check out photos by Stephanie Swart on Facebook!

Bike to School Day is a national celebration that both encourages students to ride to school and challenges communities to create better, safer places to ride. Since 2023, Walk Bike Nashville has partnered with Napier Elementary School to bring traffic calming infrastructure to Cannon Street near the school. We’ve also ridden with the students and helped provide a fun “finish line” at the school — it’s one of the most joyful days of our year!

Metro Nashville Councilmember Terry Vo, Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure Walk/Bike Manager Will Ezzell, Walk Bike Nashville Executive Director Meredith Montgomery, Napier Elementary School’s Community Achieve Manager Jackie Komos, and Napier Elementary School Principal Keenan J. Robinson all shared remarks about the community of Napier-Sudekum and the joy and importance of biking to school.

We waved to the crossing guard, sped through a puddle, and finished under the Walk Bike Nashville arch at Napier Elementary School, where T-Rac, the Tennessee Titans’ mascot, was waiting for us on a bike! He showed us some tricks while we helped students lock their bikes to the bike rack. It was a great start to the day, and students were soon asking when the next bike to school was.

We also joined Tusculum Elementary School on May 13 for Bike at School Day. Tusculum’s Physical Education Teacher, Jamia Lockmiller, planned a day for students to bring bikes or scooters to school. Each grade level got an hour to ride their bikes with their friends. This was also an opportunity for kids to learn to ride a bike and fix their bikes. Some parents even bought their kids a new bike or helmet for the occasion!

We rode with Warner Elementary School’s last Bike Bus of the year on May 20 alongside people like Vice Mayor Angie Henderson, Choose How You Move Deputy Chief Program Officer Michael Briggs, Councilmember Quin Evans-Segall, and NDOT Walk/Bike Manager Will Ezell. We also spotted some familiar faces riding with their kids including Civic Design Center’s Eric Hoke and Katherine and Daniel McDonell, who’ve served on Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission and Walk Bike’s board. The kids rolled into school in style while some of their teachers waited outside to greet them. 

We also want to shout out Dan Mills Elementary School and Lockeland Springs Elementary School for their weekly bike buses, and DuPont Elementary School for hosting National Walk and Roll to School Day with the Nashville Department of Transportation.

Walking and biking to school is a joyful way to start the day. Whether it’s weekly, monthly, or yearly, we love watching the confidence that biking to school gives children. We are grateful to all these schools and parents for inspiring kids to build community, get active, and have fun. We can’t wait to see what the next school year brings!

​Interested in hosting a Walk and Roll event at your school or starting a bike bus? Contact [email protected] for more details.