Students at Forest Park Elementary will participate in Bike-to-School Day on Wednesday, May 4, with nearly 50 students expected to ride their bikes to school.

With more students walking and riding bikes to school, Fort Wayne Community Schools is partnering with the City of Fort Wayne and Parkview Health to celebrate National Bike-to-School Day. The event is also part of Kickstart Fort Wayne, a month-long community celebration of bikes, art, music and theater.

In April, members of Parkview Health’s trauma team visited Forest Park to talk to students about bike safety and provide bike helmets for fourth- and fifth-grade students. Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of bicycle-related head injury by about 80 percent, but most bike riders do not wear helmets, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A representative from the City of Fort Wayne Planning Department also met with students to talk about additional safe biking and walking strategies and the best routes to get to school if they are not in a vehicle.

On Wednesday, Forest Park students living close to the school are invited to bike or walk to school. Temporary bike racks provided by the city will be available for students to park their bikes.

In addition to teaching students how to travel safely, the event is also designed to build awareness in the community that there are additional children on the roads traveling to and from school. And with summer break just three weeks away, adult drivers must be aware of an increased number of children walking, riding bikes and playing outside.

“We are excited to participate in Bike-to-School Day,” Forest Park Principal Diamond Robinson said. “During the safety presentations we learned that only a few students already had bike helmets at home. We want to students to be safe at all times, and the lessons they have learned as part of Bike-to-School Day will help keep them safe as they walk and ride in their neighborhoods.”