Frisco, CO, and Sedona, AZ (March 30, 2022) — Verde Valley Wheel Fun (FUN), a nonprofit mountain biking club for kids, and Project Bike Tech, the first high school bicycle education program of its kind, collaborated to introduce PBT’s Bike Tech in School bicycle mechanics program to Sedona, Arizona’s, Verde Valley High School. So when Project Bike Tech ran into problems sourcing bikes for four new programs funded by the Catena Foundation, a private grant-making charitable organization, they knew who to turn to.
“We were all set to start our program in four Catena-Foundation-funded high schools except for one big problem,” said Project Bike Tech Executive Director Mercedes Ross. “We couldn’t find any bikes. Our classrooms were set up, tools, equipment, students ready to enroll, everything in place. But no bicycles—we searched the entire U.S., but with the global supply chain issues, there’s a dearth of the kind of bikes we need. That’s where FUN saved the day—they somehow sourced enough bikes for us, saved our programs, and they’re now up and running, providing kids with technical education and marketable skills.”
Project Bike Tech uses bicycles and bicycle mechanics as a conduit to teach core academics, enhance lives, create career opportunities and inspire new generations to be passionate about bikes. The only program of its kind in the country, Bike Tech in School is an accredited high school elective that teaches key academic concepts, provides a stepping-stone to a multitude of professional careers and fosters a lifelong engagement with the outdoor recreation industry.
“Our partnership with Project Bike Tech on the Verde Valley High School program was great,” said FUN co-founder Kevin Adams. “Part of the core mission of both organizations is using biking and bicycles, and, in PBT’s case, bike mechanics, to positively affect as many children as possible—so when we heard about the supply problems Project Bike Tech was having with the new high school programs, there wasn’t any hesitation: if we could help, we were going to do it.”
