St. Louis BWorks

Weekly recap: May 16 to 22

The past seven days are a bit of a blur, and it’s good to stop and reflect on all the good effort by our students, teachers, mechanics, partners and supporters of all sorts. So here are some of the wonderful developments we’re savoring as we head into the holiday weekend (and yes, we are closed on 5/23 for a much-needed pause for our crew!).

Last weekend, current groups of Earn-A-Computer and Learn-To-Ride students in Soulard and north county made huge strides on everything from programming to pedaling practice, and we also celebrated our latest Madison County Earn-A-Bike graduates in Hartford, Illinois (big thanks to the Agency for Community Transit and Hartford Public Library for making this east-side cohort possible the past six weeks!). Then we took to the Mississippi riverfront with 12 bike program alumni and their family members for a wonderful pedal/paddle under the care of Big Muddy Adventures river guides. By Tuesday our volunteer crew at our soon-to-be new headquarters had pushed through various plaster, priming and concrete projects. On Wednesday our village was up bright and early to guide over 50 City Garden students to and from school on their bikes ( !), while back at the shop our bike mechanics and computer refurbishment team prepared for a very busy summer all about St. Louis youth. And yesterday held two more class sessions, including our first-ever Earn-A-Bike launch at Bellefontaine Rec (shout out to Great Rivers Greenway for supporting this Maline Greenway-adjacent class, and to the entire rec center team for being so welcoming!).

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: It takes a village! Thanks for being a part of ours.

Big congrats are in order for our Carondelet Park-based Earn-A-Bike grads, who wrapped up six weeks of lessons last night with their graduation ride! This fantastic group of BWorks students and teachers made the most of every spring evening in and around the park, and now the students have taken home their bikes, helmets, locks and lights to keep! Thank you to Great Rivers Greenway for funding this particular greenway-adjacent cohort and to everyone involved in making this cohort a success. Also: We still have a few spots open in some upcoming summer park-based classes (from Francis Park to Boulevard Park to Bellefontaine!). Learn more and register at https://www.bworks.org/classes/