Tom Henihan
Express Staff
Smokyriverexpress.com
@SmokyRiverExprs
Members of the RCMP McLennan Detachment held a Bike Rodeo for all Ecole Providence students on the morning of Tuesday, June 5.
Prior to getting started on navigating the courses the RCMP members laid out in the school yard using traffic cones, the students, from the very small to the older kids, lined up to ensure everyone was suitably prepared to participate, especially in regards to having a properly fitting and properly fastened helmet.
The kids were divided into two groups with the smaller kids navigating a less challenging course.
However, the principles of the exercise were safety, awareness and proper behaviour on the road.
Along with having some fun with a break from the regular school day, the objective of the Bike Rodeo is to teach the kids road safety especially those circumstances where they need to be particularly vigilant and watch for hazards and expect the unexpected.
They were also taught proper protocol and how to keep themselves and others safe while riding their bikes.
At the end of the bike rodeo which ran from 9am to noon, the RCMP handed out lute bags containing writing materials, road safety booklets and quizzes so the students could test their knowledge of road signs and the general rules of the road.
Ecole Providence also presented the students with a coupon for a free slushy at Lakeview Foods and additional coupons that were left over from the bike rodeo will be handed out by RCMP officers in the town of McLennan to kids the officers see wearing their bike helmets.
The two RCMP officers, who participated in the Rodeo, giving the students road safety instruction and putting them through their paces, were Guy Girard-Lallemand and Allan Paterson.
“We really appreciate the RCMP members’ involvement with the students,” says Ecole Providence Principal, Krista Veitch.
“They visit the school a lot and engage with the kids in numerous activities. As a result, the kids now see the officers as their friends, as authority figures they can trust and turn to if there is a problem.”
