PLAYBOOK May is Bike Month

May is Bike Month Playbook Table of Contents What’s It All About? …..………………………….……………………3 Fast Facts & History How Do I Get Started Step 1: Get the Right People Together ……………….....4 Step 2: Choose a Date & Notify the Right People …..….5 Step 3: Build Volunteer Teams …………….….…………6 Step 4: Build Your Timelines ……………………………7 Resources …………………………………………...………….……8-12 Samples ReadyMade Forms & Documents Website Links www.MayIsBikeMonth.com

Fast Facts About May is Bike Month What’s It All About? Fast Facts About May is Bike Month May is Bike Month is for the WHOLE school ~ students, teachers, administration & staff alike! EVERYONE can “log” their miles to compete with each other, other classes, grade levels and even other schools! In addition, May is Bike Month… Brings the School Community Together Promotes Safe Biking Raises Driver Awareness of Children Biking Helps Parents & Children Identify Biking Barriers Supports Ongoing Biking Programs in the Community Promotes Safe Routes to School Initiatives Inspires Families to Bike to More Often Promotes a More Active Lifestyle Helps students set & reach a goal! MIBM is a National Event that takes place during the entire month of May. The City of Roseville Safe Routes to School Team encourages schools to participate with the Sacramento May is Bike Month initiative. In the year 2012, the first ever Bike to School Day was held on a specific day during the month ~ but we encourage students to ride every day!

Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month How Do I Get Started? Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month Step 1 – Get the Right People Together Principals – It is important to get the school principal “on board” with May is Bike Month. They will be your support and advocate to the PTA & other parent volunteers. They will also help you promote the event to the school wide community through e-mail, newsletters, bulletin boards, classroom & school announcements. PTA / Parent Volunteers – Get “buy-in” from your school’s PTA as soon as possible. This event is in direct alignment with the PTA mission of student enrichment. The PTA also has the greatest access to parent volunteers. Looking forward, you can ask the PTA to designate a “Chairperson” position specifically dedicated to Safe Routes to School or May is Bike Month. Once the position is created, it is more likely to be carried on in future years. Police / Fire Departments – Notifying the Police & Fire Departments of May is Bike Month is an important step for a couple of reasons. 1) You can request that they make a couple extra “passes” through the school area during the Month of May. 2) You can also invite a Police Officer of Fireman to conduct a bike safety assembly (before or during May is Bike Month). City Officials & Local Media (i.e. Mayor, Manager, Traffic Operations, Newspapers, TV) – Notify everyone! City government loves to hear about community events ~ especially at schools! If you need help, they are there to help direct you to the right department. Invite the local media to do a story about May is Bike Month at your school. Organizing May is Bike Month can seem like a huge task! It doesn’t have to be! Just use this guide and take it step-by-step! If you ever have any questions, please feel free to call our team! STEP #1

Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month How Do I Get Started? Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month Step 2 – Plan to Start on May 1st & Notify the Right People Date – Start on May 1st so that you can be a part of the greater Sacramento initiative. Register your event at www.MayIsBikeMonth.com. This is a great website for school resources as well. Notify the Right People – School Administrator & Teaching Staff Police Department - let them know you are starting May is Bike Month on May 1. Ask them if they would be willing to be a larger presence in the vicinity of the school during school travel times. City of Roseville Safe Routes to School Team - ask them if they have resources that may be able to help you. Adult Crossing Guard (assigned to your school) - let them know that there is going to be an increase in bikers during the month of May. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! The City of Roseville and your school officials want May is Bike Month to be successful and it is with the efforts of everyone involved that will make it great! STEP #2

Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month How Do I Get Started? Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month Step 3 – Build Volunteer Teams Advertising - This team would be responsible for creating and distributing flyers, mileage cards, goal cards, designing and hanging signs & banners and communicating May is Bike Month details with the school community via PTA Newsletters, E-Mail and/or School Newsletters. Enlist students to help you! They can design signage! Celebration - This team would be responsible for putting together a celebration for the class / student / grade level with the most miles logged in the month of May. It does not have to be elaborate. It can be as simple as an extra recess, movie, Otter Pop party or anything else you can think of! Announcements should be made weekly as well with the top students of the week! Parent Volunteer Recruiters – If you choose to use parent volunteers, this team would be responsible for recruiting them and assigning them bike routes (major neighborhood intersections where students can gather and ride to school). Incentives – This team would be responsible for finding / purchasing incentives that encourage students to sign up, set a goal and then reach that goal! Pencils, bookmarks and stickers…just to name a few! Don’t try to “go it alone”! Ask parents and members of the immediate community to help you. Many hands make little work! STEP #3

Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month How Do I Get Started? Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month Step 4 – Build Your Timelines www.MayIsBikeMonth.com – Contact the local May is Bike Month group in Sacramento in January and ask to meet with the team that works with schools. City of Roseville – Contact the City of Roseville Safe Routes to School Team in January. They have lots of resources to help you! Advertising Dates – Start advertising at least one month prior to the start of May is Bike Month. Use the School & PTA Newsletters and the School Marquee (if the school has one). Send a school wide email to parent volunteers and teachers. Send flyers, commitment cards & mileage logs home with students two weeks prior to the start of MIBM. (see samples). Send an information “how to” sheet to teachers – be as specific as possible. Include a class roster (times the number of weeks in the month of May) where teachers can have students transfer their weekly mileage totals. By doing this, you will only have to collect one sheet per class per week rather than a mileage log from every student. You do not want this to cause a burden to them. Try to send everything to the teacher at one time (in a packet). Notify the media & any community/neighborhood watch group. Ask your local newspaper (The Roseville Press Tribune and it’s partners) to do an op-ed piece on your school. . Stay organized and plan ahead. Timelines will help you not have to “cram” at the last minute! STEP #4

Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month Resources Organize Your School’s May is Bike Month Samples & Ready-Made Forms & Documents Pledge Card Mileage Log Parent/Student Flyer Teacher Letter Banners / Posters / Giveaways– contact www.MayIsBikeMonth.com for access to the ready-made school’s materials. There will be a cost for some of the items. These will include: Banners Posters (varying sizes) T-Shirts Pencils/Buttons/etc Logo Student Safety Reminders Helmet Fit (Link - .pdf) Don’t try and re-invent the wheel! Feel free to use these resources and “tweak” them to fit your school!