Turner Ashby High School Dream Trail

The end of 2014 was the beginning of an incredible professional journey for me. It launched the building of a dream that had been brewing inside of me since the day I walked into my first teaching assignment during the summer of 1997 at Turner Ashby High School in Bridgewater, Virginia.

Farmers Insurance offered the Dream Big Teacher Challenge open to applications from any K-12 public education teacher in the country. Our school’s proposal was selected as one of 15 finalists in the country and 1 of 3 schools selected in the Eastern Zone. The voting competition lasted for 2 months and on December 8, 2015, Turner Ashby High School was announced as the Eastern Zone winner of the $100,000 grant! The planning and building of our paved fitness started moving forward. This yearlong journey is documented and can be viewed at www.cindyferek.weebly.com

In 2013, the CDC reported that, “2,163 teens in the United States ages 16-19 were killed and 243,243 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. That means that six teens ages 16-19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries.” The pain of those numbers unfortunately had become a reality at our school. We had lost 4 teenagers at the high school in the last 4 years and many more in our school district.

Knowing that the human brain does not fully develop until we reach our mid twenties, I decided that I had to find a way to make driver education relevant, engaging, and meaningful so my teenaged students made it through the most dangerous years of their driving careers. The new trail we constructed is part of my multi-faceted mission to tackle childhood obesity, sedentary lifestyles, AND the danger of motor vehicle crashes in our community.

Our school’s new trail officially opened on September 25, 2015. The Shenandoah Bicycle Coalition made a video about our trail. They highlighted 3 local projects last year and selected our school as one of their features. The trail that now borders the perimeter of our campus is .7 miles long, 9 feet wide, paved and has lines painted on the asphalt to represent a variety of the pavement markings students will experience on the road.

Research overwhelming supports the connection between movement and learning. We use mountain bikes to teach driver education and physical education students learn the rules of the road. In the heads of teen drivers, yielding, merging, turning, right-of-way, braking, accelerating and following distance are abstract and hard to comprehend concepts. I’ve discovered that as a teacher, it’s extremely difficult to accurately assess physical abilities and critical decision-making skills in each of skill areas listed above by lecturing in a classroom while students sit at desks.

Experiential learning gives students a safe environment to learn, make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and also at the same time get a vigorous physical workout. The decision-making process of a driver is dynamic and constantly in motion. I’m convinced that we should require the same of our minds and bodies when preparing teen drivers for the top dangers they face behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Here is a list of the top dangers identified by the CDC together with the activities our students do to improve their skills:

• Driver inexperience
  Students ride bikes on simulated roads and on our trail
• Driving with teen passengers
  Students drive by themselves on the road with 30 classmates
• Nighttime driving
• Not using seat belts
  Students are required to wear a helmet and buckle up each day in class)
• Distracted driving
• Drowsy driving
• Reckless driving
  Aggressive students stand out Day 1 in this program and we work all semester to modify their dangerous behavior
• Impaired driving
  Sheriff’s department brings in “drunk goggles” and has students attempt to drive golf carts on our new trail

Last year I decided to make a bold move as department head. I asked my colleague Heather Amon if she was willing to be certified as a bicycle instructor to move up a grade level and team-teach driver education/physical education with me. This move was possible because we were able to have the coaches in our department teach their heavy loads during their offseason. The students benefited immensely from the change and for the first time ever, all 300 tenth grade students at Turner Ashby HS are receiving the blended bicycle/driver education instruction.

With this change I discovered the benefits of team-teaching with someone who shares a common vision and purpose. The synergistic effect has been truly remarkable and I am thankful that Heather and I were able to work seamlessly together this past fall to integrate the new trail into our curriculum and physical education department class offerings.

The students loved walking, running and biking on the trail. They even pleaded with us to go outside on the days when it was raining and we stayed inside to complete some of the necessary lecture components of driver education.

Community partnerships increased the benefits, spread out the workload and brought fulfillment to all parties involved. Our local BB&T heard about our trail, donated $1,000 to our project, and each employee contributed 4 hours of labor. They came over one evening to help us plant perennial flowers in our traffic circle, paint the fire hose we use as removable lines on the trail, and provided a rain barrel and guttering to our garden shed next to the trail.

Charles Chevalier is a student I had in class last year and he decided to install a beautiful water fountain as his Eagle Scout project. He raised the money himself, installed the durable fountain and finished off the platform with his masonry skills and engraved bricks. It was a wonderful gift to our school and the students were very grateful to have a water source during our class workouts.

Everyone has benefited from Farmers Insurance investment in our program. A company called Partners Excavating built the trail. How fitting is it to have a company with a name that exemplifies what we are trying to do with our students and community?! And our students and community have taken ownership of the trail. Senior citizens in our community use the trail EVERY day for walking and rehabilitation. They love the trail and many have personally thanked me for the project. Younger children are riding bikes after school, on weekends and enjoying time with families together in a safe environment.

As I think about SHAPE America’s commitment to getting all of America’s students regularly physically active and healthy, I believe we can all become the 50 Million Strong by 2029 Champions that Angela Heineman referred to in her recent pelinks4u article. I challenge you to be a leader in your own community and to motivate the students and community members you interact with to take ownership of their health and wellbeing. In 2002, I was fortunate to be selected to carry the Olympic Torch for the Salt Lake City Olympics. In addition to being a tremendous memory the experience and this new project has given me the opportunity to be a champion and leader in my school and community.

Tips for Becoming a Champion in Your School

1. Lead by example and “Light the Fire Within”
The torch I am holding has that quote written on the handle. It is impossible to ignite the torch of someone else if your torch is not lit. Your students, your peers, parents and community members watch how you live your life and they see you when you ride your bike to school, jog down the sidewalk and eat a healthy meal. Pass on your love for being active and living a healthy lifestyle to those in your sphere of influence.

2. Add some chapters to the book we call life
Be like my teaching colleague Heather Amon and stretch yourself personally and professionally. Heather knew how to ride a bike, yet she was willing to add another layer to her skill set and add some valuable tools to her toolbox. Go and out and learn a new skill that you can teach your students, integrate a new life long activity into your curriculum and challenge yourself to be a lifelong learner. Heather now has the confidence to ride at home with family, lead her class on 3 mile bike rides during class, and enjoys the cardio workout she receives while biking.

3. Look for open doors and walk through them
Grants are available but require some investigative work on our part. The rewards are well worth the effort. Click here for grant writing tips. The $100,000 grant was a lot of work and I would do it all over again without hesitation! You can even apply for your own idea since Farmers is offering the grant again in 2016. Visit Thank Americas Teachers for more information on how to create fulfill your own dream in your community.

Summary
I am amazed by the number of people who supported this trail project by voting and spreading the word about this huge project. The mild winter has encouraged even more folk to continue using the trail daily. I smile every morning when I arrive onto campus before school and see people using the trail and walking their dogs. More are out there after school is done. My dream has been fulfilled and I look forward to seeing what lies ahead.

Thank you to each person who made this trail possible. I planted the seed and many others allowed those seeds to grow and flourish. May the benefits of exercising on this trail be experienced for years to come.