Youth Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Skateboard Education
Safe Routes to School provides and supports pedestrian and bicycle safety instruction at schools throughout Tacoma.
NEW! Elementary Pedestrian Safety Education Lessons Now Available
The elementary pedestrian safety curriculum was developed in a partnership between the City of Tacoma and Tacoma Public Schools. The curriculum contains six lesson plans that are aimed to teach K-5 youth safe walking skills. The curriculum is meant to be taught in elementary PE classes and incorporates movement while teaching safe walking skills.
Elementary Pedestrian Curriculum Supporting Documents:
The curriculum is paired with a kit that includes: two (2) mock roadways with four (4) crosswalks, vocabulary cards, traffic signals cards with handles, a large print of the pedestrian safety rhyme poster, and a binder containing a hard copy of the curriculum.
If you are a Tacoma Public Schools (TPS) educator, please contact Mary Waterbly, Instructional Facilitator at TPS, to checkout a kit. If you are non-Tacoma Public Schools educator and are interested in teaching the pedestrian safety curriculum, contact Carrie Wilhelme, Safe Routes to School Coordinator at cwilhelme@cityoftacoma.org.
This curriculum was made possible thanks to a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC).
Bicycle Safety Education
Middle school students attending Tacoma Public Schools have the opportunity to learn bicycle safety skills in their PE classes thanks to a grant from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The grant provided the Tacoma School District with a fleet of bicycles and a trailer to store them.
The City of Tacoma hosts bicycle rodeos throughout the year as a way to educate youth about basic bike handling and traffic safety skills. A bike rodeo contains a series of stations along a protected course that teach bike skills. Stay tuned as the City is working to create a bike rodeo kit that can be checked out by schools and parent groups!
2nd Cycle Community Bike Shop youth programs aim to empower the next generation of Tacoma community members with bike skills and self-reliance. 2nd Cycle offers earn-a-bike courses, summer bike camps, and bicycle outreach leadership opportunities. Visit their website to learn about current bike education opportunities.
Skateboard Education
Alchemy Skateboarding provides opportunities for youth to learn and grow through skateboarding. This is done through skate camps, leadership programs, and pop up skate parks. Visit their website to see the latest classes and programs being offered.