LINCOLN -- The middle school's vision to have an outdoor adventure park to provide a place for kids to ride their bikes took a giant step forward last week with a grant from Simmons First Foundation.
The $16,850 award will allow the school to complete the first phase of the adventure park, which will be a mountain bike pump track and a Hogbox for bike storage, air pumps and tools, according to Ivan Huffmaster, an avid biker and EAST facilitator at the middle school.
Huffmaster said the goal is to have the pump track ready to go this summer.
Megan Hudgens and John Morris with Simmons Bank presented a check last week to Huffmaster and Stan Karber, assistant principal, during the school district's monthly Lincoln Community Alliance meeting.
Karber thanked Hudgens for her help in submitting the school's application for the award. Hudgens works for First Simmons in Lincoln.
Karber said the adventure park will be an extension of what the school already does with students involved in the school's Youth Adventure Club. These kids go hiking, kayaking, mountain bike riding and climbing.
"We do a lot of things with our kids with the Adventure Club," Karber said. "I believe in what we do."
He noted teaching kids about outdoor activities is giving them something they can do the rest of their lives.
"When sports stop, this doesn't stop," Karber said.
Huffmaster already has built, with help, a one-fourth mile hiking and mountain bike riding trail near the middle school. The new adventure park will connect to this trail and also is next to the city's community garden.
Huffmaster said a pump track is a loop track where bikers will start high and then be able to use their momentum to ride the rest of the track. It's a good place for beginning bike riders and also provides a challenge for more experienced riders, Huffmaster said.
The Hog Box will be a place to store mountain bikes and supplies and tools. Kids will be able to bring their own bikes, but if they don't have one, bikes will be available at the track.
Another part of the park, Huffmaster said, will be to teach kids how to repair their own bikes, such as changing tires and replacing other parts.
Karber said the middle school already has a climbing wall, an outdoor classroom and a hammock park.
"We're going to keep making our campus this kind of lifestyle for our kids," Karber said, adding, "If you take on this lifestyle, you don't have room for the other things."
The second phase of the Adventure Park will be to add different elements, such as outdoor workout equipment and a small fenced playground for children.
In an email, Hudgens said Simmons was glad to be a small part of the school's effort to promote outdoor activities.
"There were so many things to love about this project," Hudgens said. "As a Lincoln Alumni, I think it's incredible what our administration has provided the students to help foster a love for the outdoors. If we can show these kids what's out there and what they're capable of despite the circumstances they may have been born into, we can reverse generational poverty. We are so very thankful for the administration of Lincoln Consolidated School District for their creative vision, persistence and selfless dedication to each and every student of the District."
General News on 01/22/2020