As the year wound to a close, the four members of Cadence Youth Cycling’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) decided to host a “Passing of the Torch” ceremony and meeting for incoming 2017 YAC members.
YAC is part of the Bicycle Coalition’s youth outreach program Cadence Youth Cycling (CYC), which trains high-school students in cycling, fostering their skills in teamwork, perseverance, and goal-setting via the 7 site teams in schools throughout Philadelphia.
CYC also invites particularly strong, responsible students to become All Stars, a group committed to one or more of three special racing teams as well as community service hours. Started in 2015, YAC is made up of four top youth leaders in the Cadence program who together help plan youth programming and lead the All Stars in community leadership projects.
The 2016 YAC members pushed to host a presentation for the upcoming 2017 members in what to expect, and to better ease the transition.
Going beyond YAC, the students saw an opportunity to expand their impact into the community by opening up the meeting to the Bicycle Coalition’s board and staff, as well as other community members. One invitation reached the Neighborhood Bike Work (NBW) youth council, an organization which provides after school and summer programs where students learn bike mechanics and urban riding.
The members from NBW’s youth council put together a presentation on what the organization is all about, including their partnership with CYC for their own no-cost youth program, Cadence Youth Cycling: Team NBW.
YAC views the NBW presentation, which included guest speaker Otis Hackney, Chief Education Officer for the mayor’s office, as a highlight of the event, representing a growing collaboration between Cadence Youth Cycling and other youth outreach organizations.
The meeting came to an exciting end with a social hour and dance party, reflecting the energetic attitude of CYC and its student cyclists.
Cadence Youth Cycling is now Bicycle Coalition Youth Cycling. Click here to learn more about the recent changes, and click here to donate.