The below article is from the: Daily News-Record (Harrisonburg, VA)
February 7, 2013
Section: News (Local)
Driver’s Ed Class Picks Up Speed
EMILY SHARRER
PENN LAIRD – Standing in front of Spotswood High School Wednesday, as students and faculty zipped past on 31 new mountain bikes, Turner Ashby High School physical education teacher Cindy Ferek looked around with slight disbelief.
“This is incredible,” said Ferek, whose innovative program incorporating bikes into driver’s education is spreading to SHS. The expansion of the program was made possible by a bike and helmet donation from DR100, a local cycling fundraiser.
“I’m just so [grateful] for the DR100,” Ferek said. “Without the funding, we can’t do what we do.”
Rockingham County Schools agreed late last year to accept $10,000 in funding from DR100 to purchase the bikes that will be used in driver’s education and physical education classes.
DR100 organizers hoped the funding would help buy enough bikes for East Rockingham High School as well as SHS. But Rockingham County Superintendent Carol Fenn said the money was only enough to pay for the 31 bikes and 35 helmets at Spotswood.
Bikes were presented to SHS school officials Wednesday.
DR100 is an annual biking event and fundraiser that honors the late Dr. Joe Mirenda, a Virginia Beach anesthesiologist who was struck and killed while riding his bike on Port Republic Road in August 2009. The fundraiser began in 2010.
“Every year we’ve donated money that makes cycling safer in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County,” said C. Robert Cone, a member of the DR100 board of directors and event director.
In addition to expanding the biking program, the $14,000 raised from the 2012 event will support the Northend Greenway and Bluestone Trail, two multiuse trails proposed for Harrisonburg.
Cone said choosing to support Ferek’s program, which teaches students how to abide by the rules of the road, was an easy choice
“It was a really easy sell,” he said. “It was just a great match.”
Contact Emily Sharrer at 574-6286 or
Kristin Magann, physical education teacher at Spotswood High School, enters the school with one of the 31 bicycles donated from DR100, a local cycling fundraiser. The bikes will be used for a driver’s education program created by Cindy Ferek, a teacher at Turner Ashby High School. (Photos by Nikki Fox / DN-R)
Students at SHS ride bicycles donated from DR100 in the school on Wednesday.
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