Youth Perspective: BBW’s Summer Program

On a warm Monday morning in July, eight Blackstone Bicycle Works (BBW) youth met their instructor Alex Lamers to learn about bicycles. This would be the first time youth were back in person at BBW since summer 2021.

Max was one of those youths who joined the program. “What I like about bikes is how you can go places and have fun, and [...] you get a nice exercise,” said Max. 

Max is an avid biker himself, biking to school and with his friends in the neighborhood. “I wanted to join [the BBW Summer Program] because it would give me more knowledge about bikes and how to fix bikes,” Max said. 

While Max already knew something about fixing bikes before attending the program, the Summer Program taught him many new things. The instructor would disassemble certain parts of the youth’s bike and ask them to reassemble it. 

Max also expressed an increased sense of independence being able to fix his own bike. Now, he no longer has to bring his bike to the bicycle mechanic, since he can do it himself. A particularly fond memory for Max was when he was able to fix his friend’s flat tire with the skills he learned in the Summer Program.

“It was complicated at first, [...] but I felt happy because normally, [...] we can’t do anything about [our broken bikes]. And now, since I know how to fix a bike [...] my friends and I can keep riding together.”

It gave Max an increased sense of pride and motivation to keep learning about bikes. “I would definitely come back [to BBW] after school working on bikes,” Max said, and BBW is happy to have him!