"Biking Vikings" combine reading and exercise at Decorah MIddle School

Decorah Middle School students can now exercise on a recumbent bike while reading a book in the school library.

Teacher librarian Shannon Horton wrote and was awarded a McElroy grant to purchase 15 recumbent exercise bikes.  She made the grant application because of research on the importance of reading and the importance of movement during school day.  "Development of the Read and Ride program will merge these two significant aspects of the school day, and the benefits will, hopefully, add up to be more than the sum of the parts," says Horton.

The goal of the Biking Vikings program is to use exercise on the stationary bikes as a way of increasing students' reading stamina.  "The research on the benefits of blending exercise with reading are beginning to emerge, and the findings are noteworthy," says Hortn.  In the book "Kids Who Can't Sit Still," author Rebecca Bright writes that "a 2008 study found that children actually need to move to focus during a complicated mental task. The children in the study—especially those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—fidgeted more when a task required them to store and process information rather than just hold it."

The benefits are already apparent and best articulated by 5th grade student Austin Henry. "I love the bikes," he shared.  "I've been able to focus on reading, and I couldn't do that before."

Students at the middle school helped assemble the bikes and two high school students created the Biking Vikings logo.