Dover’s quest to get students more active doesn’t just have legs…it now has wheels.

The school district recently learned it will be one of 41 nationwide recipients of the Riding for Focus grant from The Specialized Foundation.

The program is designed to integrate cycling into the physical education curriculum as a means to help students achieve academic, health and social success.

Dover’s grant is valued at more than $26,000, which includes 26 custom bicycles as well as curriculum and teacher training.

The teacher responsible for the grant is Dani Wood, who coaches softball and teaches physical education and special education at the school.

Since her arrival at Dover, Wood has been diligent in working toward making all students more active. This grant is the latest step in that mission

“Just like other schools, we have students in our middle school and high school that do not want to participate in traditional athletic sports,” Wood said. “But we feel it is important to teach our students that having an active lifestyle and making healthier food choices will benefit them throughout their adult life.”

The Specialized Foundation developed the grant not just for increased activity in students.

The purpose is much deeper and much more personal for its founder and CEO, Mike Sinyard, who has long dealt with the effects of ADHD in his life.

The inability to stay focused and being easily distracted were things he said he had grown to just accept as “normal.” Yet, he noticed that those symptoms seemed to dissipate after returning from a ride.

His son, Anthony, also suffered from ADHD, which has become more widespread.

“As we know through research, there has been a huge increase of students diagnosed with ADHD in our school systems,” Wood said.

According to Sinyard, Anthony also saw the positive benefits from riding, so Sinyard explored further the science behind riding’s impact on the brain.

The Specialized Foundation and Riding for Focus were born from this and it caught Wood’s attention a couple years back.

“I applied for the grant because I saw it as an opportunity to take our healthy initiative we have started and to move it into our middle school and high school,” Wood said. “I also believe it is an amazing opportunity to expose our students to a healthy habit that could last them a lifetime.”

Even before coming to Dover, Wood has been searching for ways to increase learning for students.

“Over the last five years or so in my career I have become extremely passionate about active learning and increased movement during the school day,” she said. “I remember having multiple recesses a day when I was kid and our students now do not get that. I feel the lack in activity is a direct correlation to student behavior, performance and academic success.”

Wood has done her own research showing the correlation between increased activity and better academic performance and has worked to implement it.

“Here at Dover, my administration believes the same so we have actively been pursuing ways to incorporate more classroom movement and creating healthier habits for our students,” she said.

That resulted in the school’s new wellness program, which was designed by Wood. Through Wood and that program, the district applied for and received a $15,000 TSET grant in November 2018 to help with the creation of an “action based lab.”

“Coach Wood is a great advocate for kids. She has a heart for schools and doing what we can for kids. She challenges kids to always give their best, to believe in themselves and to build each other up,” said Kyle Karns, Dover High School principal.

“I’m really proud she is on our team and the bike grant, along with being fun, will be a huge step towards developing the well-rounded individual and building school pride.”

Wood will attend training for the program in California in July. It will cover how to teach the curriculum, bike maintenance, and will cover all the research that links cycling to ADHD.

“The bike maintenance is important because these are specialized brand bikes and they are specifically designed and customized for this program,” Wood said. “They are valued at $1,000 apiece, so they are finding a community partner that will help us with bike maintenance and care.”

This program will benefit mostly junior high and high school students, although Wood said a smaller learning and riding unit is planned for fourth, fifth and sixth graders.

Dover staff is finalizing details for bike storage to allow for the bikes to be shipped in. The program will begin with the fall 2019 semester.

That’s when, Wood believes, learning can be achieved at a new level and it will benefit all types of students as well as the Dover staff.

“One, it is a unique opportunity to have the ability to teach public school students about cycling, especially at a school our size, because cycling is an activity that even students that struggle with running can do,” Wood said.

“Two, it gives our staff the chance to teach our students a lifelong activity that they can participate in that is not a traditional school sport activity. Lastly, I feel as an educator we are all looking for ways to provide the best education for our children and always looking for the next best teaching strategy.”

And this is the strategy Dover is tackling. Wood feels it will work.

“I truly believe this program will allow us to reach our students that do not want to play sports but do want to exercise and be healthier,” she said.