After noticing that students started arriving at school late in the morning, Dunbar High School P.E. teacher Alex Clark created a plan to try and change the habit.
Around the time of the pandemic, he considered ways to use bikes to solve problems in the community. With attendance rates in the morning hours “a bit of a struggle,” Clark launched a “bike bus” to incentivize kids to show up on time.
Because students who attend the Northwest D.C. campus come from different parts of the city, the school serves as a meeting place. Then, the group rides to whatever event Clark has organized for that day.
The concept has motivated students to be prompt and Clark said it helps them avoid traffic headaches in the car. The campus is situated near First Street and New York Avenue, and there’s a different school right behind it.
“Sometimes, our students get shunned or highlighted and spotlighted in the wrong way,” Clark said.
“But, there’s a lot of students that want to learn, that want to be a part of something, and so just providing them that safe space before school is our goal with it all.”
Clark has led the bike bus to Lululemon for a yoga activation and to Audi Field for a tour. The students typically get fed during the pre-class outings, Clark said, “and we try to get them learning right away.”
Senior Ziyale Freeman rides his bike to school most of the time, finding it easier than a car because of less traffic and the ability to cut through side streets and alleys.
“We’re in D.C., and it’s a lot of bad drivers,” Freeman said.
“You can’t really drive for yourself, you’ve gotta drive for other people. On a bike, I feel like that’s not the same thing. You could go where you want, drive as fast as you want.”
Clark has inspired some of the kids to join the school’s competitive cycling team, and others are eager to learn how to fix a bike and make repairs through the mechanic program.
“It’s not just biking to school, but it’s also all of the things that cycling can offer our young people,” Clark said.
Senior Tsai Parker sometimes bikes to school because it’s “easier to get around.”
Separately, Clark’s bike tech class teaches students the fundamentals of repairs, but the goal isn’t for students to become bike mechanics, “but for you guys to learn how to use your hands, you guys learn how to be creative, you guys learn how to work together, how to solve problems,” he said.
Senior Shae’Niah Butler said the class taught her how to change the tires, “pump the bikes up, and I also learned how to ride bikes.”
Clark attributes his success and aspirations to his mentors. He’s hoping to use the bike bus and his classroom to pay it forward.
“They were always trying to pour into me in different ways, and so that’s what I hope that I can do for my kids,” Clark said.
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