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EARN-A-BIKE
BICYCLE LEADERS
BICYCLE RIDES & TOURING
OUR SUMMER PLANS
YOUTH OUT SPOKE'N
PROGRAM CALENDAR
STERLING QUINN :
Friends of Bike Works may know Sterling as the yo-yo performer from our auction. Or perhaps you know him because you’ve seen him in the hardcourt bike polo scene that’s been exploding around Seattle. Sterling came to Bike Works in 2002 as a nine year old excited about earning a BMX bike. Now we are thrilled to announce that this former youth/yoyo champion/bike polo talent/bike repair pro is joining Bike Works as our newest staff member! Sterling is serving an AmeriCorps term as our Program Assistant, helping to run all of our youth programs for the upcoming year. As an alumnus of many of these programs, Sterling brings valuable personal experience, in addition to his passion for bicycles.
Several years ago, Sterling gave up Bike Works to focus on the world of yoyos. As a senior in high school, he began to commute to high school from across town and wanted a road bike. After completing our Earn-a-Bike program, youth can come to the weekly free drop-in, where they can continue to earn bikes and parts until they turn 18. So Sterling returned. We convinced him to take the Advanced Mechanics Class and began to come around on the weekends for bike polo. He ended up in the Polo Camp that summer and, to our joy, soon signed up for the Advanced Bicycle Tour down the Oregon Coast - 450 miles of some of the hardest, most epic landscape in the West – from Astoria, OR to Crescent City, CA. Sterling has told us that this trip was a life changing experience. “I pushed myself harder than I ever had. This was possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I made new friends, and I got a much needed break from my parents, normal life, and technology. This trip is the best thing I’ve done in so many ways.”
Sterling continues to challenge himself, often on the bike polo court. This summer he was an assistant instructor for our Polo All Day Camp and competed at the Polo World Championships here in Seattle! Of course, Sterling is already a champion to us here at Bike Works and we couldn’t be more pleased to have him join our staff this year .
 
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BICYCLE LEADERS PROGRAM
The basic ideas behind this program are: first, to get our older youth actively engaged in graduated levels of community service at Bike Works; second, to encourage them to think about their role as models and leaders to the younger kids here; and third, to give them a real sense of contribution to the organization as they develop their skills and become young adults looking for paid work (possible careers) and ways to contribute to their larger communities.
In the past, our programs have not catered specifically to teenagers at Bike Works. With the American car culture as strong as it is, and the need for youth to continue to feel that they are learning and being challenged to grow - over time we found that as the participants turned 14 they were losing interest in Earn-a-Bike and what we had to offer, and they were moving on to other pursuits. The Bicycle Leaders Program, along with our Advanced Mechanic Classes, is our first real attempt to combat this trend, and to offer a viable (both for the youth and this organization) outlet for the teenagers who are interested in staying active with bikes, bike rides, working with youth, and trying to find future employment as a bike shop employee or a bike ride trip leader.
The Bicycle Leaders Program is open to graduates of our Advanced Mechanic Classes (youth must be 14-17 to be a part of these classes). The program has four tiers and the first three tiers occur in the classroom. The final tier - called the Apprenticeship - is broken down into three sections and has as many hours as the first three tiers combined. There is both a Ride Leader Apprenticeship and a Bike Mechanic Apprenticeship - the youth can pick one or the other, or choose to pursue both at different times.
BICYCLE MECHANIC LEADERS
Our bike shop apprentice program gives youth the skills they would need to start working in a shop on advanced mechanic work, with the knowledge of how to open and close a shop, how to navigate public interactions and customer transactions on the register, and how to become a successful mechanic. We have placed graduates at Bike Works and at many bike shops around Seattle.
BICYCLE RIDE LEADERS
We have created a leadership training program for youth that includes work in risk management, ride safety, basic CPR/first aid training, environmental education, youth education, and mentoring. Our goal, much like the work we are conducting within our bike shop, is to hire youth as apprentice trip leaders for our camps with younger youth during the summer.
Bike Works is excited about the opportunities for these apprenticeship programs!
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