Grant provides bikes for Westbury students
Dryden Street School recently received $1,500 as part of a wellness grant awarded to the Westbury School District from Action for Healthy Kids. The purpose of the grant is to support physical activity initiatives as well as piloting or expanding the school’s breakfast program.
The wellness committee at Dryden Street School chose to expand its physical activity
program. Children were taught lessons on bike safety as well as the importance of using a helmet while riding their bikes. Accordingly, the grant permitted the purchase of bikes from Toys “R” Us.
As part of the school’s Fun Week activities, Todd Aiken, community police officer from the Nassau County Police Department, spoke to children about bike safety and Stranger Danger—what to do when a stranger approaches them on the street. At the end of his presentation, Aiken provided an activity book for every student titled “The Police Officer is your Friend,” which highlighted these very important points.
Sharon Greco, physical education teacher at Dryden, who spearheads the wellness committee, was able to strike an extraordinary deal with Toys “R” Us of Carle Place. Lawrence Cheung, manager at Toys “R” Us, provided the school with 17 assembled bikes, helmets and a two-year warranty on each bike within the grant allocation. The Westbury facilities team picked up the bikes and delivered them to the school.
Each child was issued a raffle ticket for a bike. One raffle ticket was pulled for each of our 16 kindergarten classes. An additional raffle ticket was issued to those students who completed the challenge of reading 25 books for the school year.
At each assembly program the winning student came up to take a picture with their new bicycle. Of the 17 students chosen, 15 students did not own a bicycle; the others had to share one with their siblings. Seeing the joy and excitement on the children’s faces brought the staff to tears. When the parents came to school to secure the bike and helmet, their expressions of gratitude was overwhelming. This was a win-win program for all.
—Submitted by Dryden Street School
