Biking as Medicine: Program Seeks to Help Struggling Students Through Exercise

Cade VanEtten can bunny-hop the tallest curb on a mountain bike, while Xan Roberts isn’t far removed from training wheels. Despite their differing skill levels, the children both claim to have a keener focus on classwork Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – when they get to start the school day with 40 minutes of pedaling and burning excess energy. They’ve been participants in a new program at the Pocatello Community Charter School called Riding for Focus, which aims to prove biking can be the best medicine for middle-schoolers who have trouble behaving or paying attention in class. The program, launched at PCCS last fall, is not for credit, and will resume for the current school year in October. Read More