Pedal the Cause 2015

Just wanted to share what a great time I had at Pedal the Cause today.  It was my first official cycling event and I was a little intimidated but it was an amazing experience.  Got to ride with a good buddy who first got me into cycling, had wonderful weather, and the positive vibe of everyone there supporting a great cause was phenomenal.

The race took place in Chesterfield and as someone new to the area, so to speak, it was great to tour around and see the locales that border CDS.  The start of the race even went right by the corner or Conway and White.  Truth be told, the hills around Babler about killed me, but the pay off along Wild Horse Creek was worth it. I kept thinking to myself... "there would be a cool place to look for macroinvertebrates" or "oh! I bet we could catch a bunch of crayfish there" or "I wonder if the bus could get down that road?"  Ah, such is the lens you see from as a science teacher.

I think that opportunities like this are great ways for teachers to model goal setting and persistence for their students.  There's a lot of talk these days about grit and perseverance and it's correlation with academic achievement and I think it's important for students to see that these same challenges still exist for adults.  It may not be homework or reading assignments, but the same principles are involved whether we're talking about lifetime fitness, building a small business, learning a new trade/skill/foreign language, etc. Goal setting, time on task, determination, and ultimately, celebration!!!