Joplin, MO – April 30, 2025 – As communities across the nation gear up for National Bike & Roll to School Day on May 7, 2025, excitement is mounting for students at Cecil Floyd Elementary who will celebrate their fourth year riding daily to and from school together.
As part of National Bike Month, National Bike & Roll to School Day is about encouraging students, families, and communities to explore the benefits of biking as a healthy and sustainable mode of transportation. Communities are invited to join the movement by organizing biking events, promoting bike safety education, and advocating for bike-friendly infrastructure.
Joplin’s bike bus group will celebrate bike to school day by inviting members of the community to join their ride to school on May 7th. Invitees include a member of city council and the school board, as well as various community leaders and mentors. They hope that inviting others to see what it’s like to ride to school as a kid will inspire eff orts to make our streets safer and more accommodating for all users.
“Bike to School Day gives us a chance to recognize and celebrate the incredible commitment of our bike bus kids who choose to get out and ride almost every single school day,” said Christina Williams, bike bus leader. “Providing space for students to be with friends in the morning and have some independence on their way to school is so important. Their self-confi dence and strength as little cyclists continues to grow.”
This school year, a few students have also been riding a new route extension from Cecil Floyd to North Middle School. One middle school student, Greyson Wimsett, who had participated in the Cecil Floyd bike bus, and his mom, Christina, are on track to ride 30% of school days this year to the middle school. While typically a smaller group, the additional miles have provided a greater opportunity for the students to learn traffi c safety, navigation, and communication in a group ride.
Riding 78% of school days so far, the Cecil Floyd students have reached over 1,500 miles as a group and the North Middle School extended route has reached over 600 miles collectively. Each daily journey has fostered a sense of community spirit and resilience among participants.
For Joplin’s bike bus, this has been a year of planning for growth and preparing to spread the bike bus joy and benefits to other neighborhood schools. In addition to the usual daily ride to school, Christina and the students have been working to build educational programming to help teach other families how to start bike bus routes to their neighborhood schools. This programming will be available through Bike Walk Joplin and has been funded in part by a grant from the Joplin Regional Community Foundation, individual donors, and video production support from Spoke & Wheel – the marketing division of American Ramp Company. Christina also taught a session about the bike bus and the importance of active transportation to school at the state-wide Moving Missouri Forward: Active Transportation Summit in April 2025.
About Bike Walk Joplin Bike Walk Joplin is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safe, accessible, and sustainable transportation options. Through advocacy, infrastructure improvements, and community engagement, Bike Walk Joplin aims to make Joplin a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly city. For more information, visit www.bikewalkjoplin.org.
Reference:
Christina Williams, Bike Walk Joplin Board Member
417.392.0786
cjwdesign79@gmail.com
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