TEMPLE, Texas — A group of Temple Independent School District middle school students has brand-new bicycles to ride after the district hosted a “Wrenches to Wheels” event on Tuesday (June 16).
“Wrenches to Wheels” is a partnership between Temple ISD and Workforce Solutions of Central Texas that pairs selected students with a volunteer mentor to build a bicycle free of charge. The students get to keep both the bicycle and the tools used during the building process. Baylor Scott and White Health also donated bicycle helmets for each student and representatives did a brief presentation on bicycle safety before the group started to assemble the bicycles.
This year, a dozen seventh and eighth graders from Lamar Middle School participated in the program. Some of the students had never ridden a bicycle before, much less built one. Volunteers from MTC in Temple and other community partners collaborated with the students on building the bicycles and the hope is that the students will get more out of the event than just a free bike and a set of tools.
“I love helping kids whenever I can and I have worked with this program before,” said Mason Hood, a welder at MTC, and a volunteer at the event. “I hope he likes the experience of working with his hands. He did a really good job of figuring things out and caught on really quickly about putting this together.”
Hood worked with seventh grader Roudey Mercer on his bicycle. The pair was one of the first groups finished and Mercer was grateful to be involved in the event and enjoyed the opportunity to learn what goes into building a bicycle.
“It was a little different, I have never built a bicycle before,” Mercer said. “It was a little difficult. But having him help me made it easier. He showed me how to tighten things up and I can’t wait to go ride this around at my house.”
Seventh grader Andy Tobar was paired with MTC’s Orry Poe during the event. Tobar says he really enjoyed the experience of working with Poe and also learned quite a bit during the process.
“It was really fun, he taught me how to use a wrench to tighten the brakes, and how to adjust the seat,” Tobar said. “I also got a chance to talk to someone and get to know them. I learned what it takes to build a bike and I am looking forward to going out and riding it.”
“I mountain bike a lot and I hope this event inspires kids to get out on their bikes and be active,” Poe added. “I also wanted him to have the experience of building stuff and getting his hands dirty. Doing something is a good teacher and I just tried to help a little bit when he needed it.”
After building the bicycles, students did a quick “quality-check” ride around the Lamar Gymnasium while other students were finishing their builds. The group then had the opportunity to test drive their bikes through the school parking lot while the volunteers watched.
Sponsors are also hopeful that the event give students an opportunity to practice problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and other life skills to help lead them to success. Participating students were selected by campus administrators at Lamar based on certain criteria.
“This event gives our students a chance to get together with friends, and work with community partners to build a bicycle they can safely ride to school,” said Sara Bartlett, director of Career and Technical Education for Temple ISD. “Working with your hands is a great experience for our kids, and this is a first step in some of our pathways in CTE. They also get a chance to learn to use tools responsibly and work with a community member on the project.”
MTC, Don Ringler, Johnson Brothers Ford, and SeAH financially contributed to this year’s “Wrenches to Wheels” event. Workforce Solutions rotates the program around among school districts throughout Central Texas each year. Temple ISD last hosted a “Wrenches to Wheels” event in 2023.