Recapturing The Spirit of Youth

By Superintendent of Hudson Community School District, Dr. Anthony Voss 

My first bicycle was a Christmas present from my grandparents. I was a little guy,  probably not much more that 3 or 4 years old. It was a tan colored Huffy with a banana seat. I  learned to ride in the backyard on the farm, and once I had it figured out I was zipping all over  the place. Watching my next door neighbor (a four year old in his own right) find his balance  with his dad running along behind him a few weeks ago really took me back. After a few falls  he finally got the hang of it, and then there was no stopping him. In my own mind I was  cheering him along with his parents.  

At the time we lived on a gravel road and there was no stopping me either. I discovered if I ran  my bike in the tracks cars made down the lane it worked out pretty well. We only lived about a  half mile from a creek so that quickly became a favorite destination for me. Oftentimes with a  fishing pole strapped to my back! Before long, I had graduated up to a 10 speed. Once I had  that bike it felt like I had achieved true freedom, especially when my buddies and I would ride  from Clemons to State Center. That was where all the action was and a round trip of 14 miles  on a county black top was a breeze for a group of preteen boys. In those days, riding a bike  was not really considered a leisure activity. No, it was our primary form of transportation.  

But something else happened during those preteen years that inevitably retired my  bicycle to the back of the garage under a layer of dust: A '65 Chevelle. Black with red interior, it  was really a nice car (and really too much car for a novice driver of my experience and  maturity). Yep, once I turned 16 my mode of transportation became 4 wheels instead of 2.  Heck, in those days one could fill up the tank for $10 and drive forever. Where the joy of riding  my bike as a youngster had at one time been my preferred (albeit only) mode of getting from  point 'A' to point 'B', it was now something that was for 'kids'.  

From that point forward, I didn't really ride a bike anymore. Heck I didn't even need a  bike anymore! Although there was that stunt some college buddies and I pulled when we  decided to ride RAGBRAI in our early twenties. We were young and fit, so certainly didn't need  to train for the ride, right? Wrong! Anyway, serious bike riding was a thing of the past and  something relegated to children.  

But then...  

A handful of years ago, the district won a grant that outfitted our PE department with a  classroom set of bicycles. What probably began as a novelty has now grown into a full unit of  study in grades 7-12. With our school district ideally situated on a comprehensive trail network,  it really fit nicely into our curriculum. Not too long after getting the bikes, one of the high school  students asked me if I'd like to try a bike. This was in the controlled environment of the high  school auxiliary gym, so I jumped on and pedaled across the gym. For what it's worth the  saying is true, 'just like riding a bike'. Nevertheless, it brought back some of those feelings of  nostalgia and youth. But not to the point of spurring me to action.  

The last couple of years have found us pretty close to home, without many adventures  or the traveling that we have been accustomed to. I had started walking a few years back as a  form of 'exercise', but it just wasn't providing the results that I thought it should. It didn't take  too long before I was looking for something else to do. I needed a new hobby! I thought back  to that quick ride I took across the gym and thought, why not? So, I went out and got a bike. I  started slowly, a ride from home to my office and back was a few miles. Before I knew it, I was  able to do a 20 mile ride without any discomfort.  

Now, this post isn't about me picking up a new hobby. No, its about instilling in our  students a lifelong love of learning and living a healthy lifestyle. It's relatively easy to go to work  each day, come home, turn on the television and fall asleep in my recliner. Then dragging  myself off to bed before waking up the next day to do it all over again. As I have come to  realize over the last few years, we all need to live each day to the fullest. There is, and should  be, much more to life than work. Hopefully this new hobby can be an example to our  youngsters. 

From a macro standpoint, I drive home the point that elementary school is about  teaching kids to read and secondary school is about helping kids figure out what they want to  do when they leave our care. Painting with broad strokes that most certainly is true. But when  you consider the totality of a public school experience there is a whole lot more to it. It is about  fine arts and experiencing the beauty of the world through music, theatre, and drama. It is also  about healthy living, taking care of ourselves, and experiencing the joy of leisure activity. So  when the opportunity came up for me to go on a bike ride with our 8th graders last week I  jumped at the chance. Not only was it a chance to enjoy an afternoon outdoors, it also allowed  me to model the very type of activity that can hopefully lead to healthy living and a lifetime of  exercise and enjoyment. While riding with the students, I asked several if they had bikes at  home and if they rode them. Not surprisingly, most of them responded the same way that I did  at their age. They may have them now; but they were mostly looking forward to retiring their  bikes for cars.  

I totally understand the sentiment. However, I hope that in addition to learning those  core pillars mentioned above, they retain and aspire to a lifestyle of healthy living and quality  leisure time. Yes, they will certainly get to their destination faster in a car, but a bike ride will  enable them to enjoy a quieter time. And hopefully 20 or 30 years from now, they will be able to  jump on a bike and remember what it was like to be a kid!