BMX pros teach children kindness at Center Township Elementary School
CENTER TWP — Professional BMX riders flew through the air at Center Township Elementary School’s gymnasium — not for a competition, but to teach students about motivation and other positive traits.
Students cheered and watched in awe as the bikers showed off their BMX tricks at an assembly Wednesday, Sept. 24. The assembly was meant to teach students the importance of positive traits, like kindness toward one another; hard work and persevering through challenges; and avoiding negativity.
Students cheered at the top of their lungs as the riders took off from a ramp set up in the gym, doing tricks, like balancing on the back wheel, spinning 360 degrees mid-jump and jumping over several of their teachers lined up on the floor.
Principal Tanya Lewis said her school has worked with the parent teacher organization to put a lot of focus on promoting positive traits, like kindness and being hardworking, and that using assemblies like this helps the school reach students and have a positive impact on them.
Several students agreed with their principal, saying the event was fun, though it was a bit noisy. They all said their favorite part was all the backflips.
“Really trying to put a message behind it, we were focusing here on the kindness, perseverance, all of those types of character traits and qualities, that’s one of our focuses,” Lewis said. “So being able to pull them in for an entertaining and exciting assembly, something that, at the same time, sends them off with that message, it’s great.”
The three BMX pros — Doug Morrison, Christian Baron and Christopher Salopeck — said they spend most of the school year doing two to three shows a week, usually totaling around 150 shows a year.
“We just want to bring them into our vibe, and the vibe we have at BMX. Being nice to our friends, having a good comradery — we try to show that to them as much as possible. We try to interact and get along with them, and show them we’re having fun,” Morrison said.
The bikers are part of Forward BMX Show, a company that travels around the country performing at schools. According to the company’s website, its goal is “more than just tricks and flips,” aiming to spark students’ curiosity while promoting physical fitness and perseverance, teaching students “every fall is a step toward success.”
“We took something that we really loved to do in life, which was BMX, doing cool tricks, and we took it as far as possible. We never gave up, and we’ve gotten better each and every single day,” Morrison told the students during the assembly. “Those little steps add up over time, and have gotten us to where we are today.”
Baron used the BMX abbreviation as a way to promote positivity to the elementary students. He gave BMX, which normally stands for bicycle motocross, a new meaning for the students — B stands for “being the best version of yourself,” M stands for “motivation” and X symbolizes saying no to anything negative.
“If you learn to say no to negative things, you can accomplish all your dreams,” Baron told the students.
