The Chilliwack
Progress
35
Special
Thursday
3
23
News
Scene
Top Dog
Growing
Music
The votes are in for Chilliwack’s Top Dog.
Fertile new ground for Sardis ag program.
Barney Bentall brings his classic sound to Chilliwack.
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T H U R S D AY, M AY 3 0 , 2 0 1 3
Pipeline plan draws questions Alina Konevski The Progress
Richard Trudel, 13, oils a rusty chain on a bike as part of a bicycle repair program offered at CHANCE Alternate school. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Program gets kids geared up for school
Alina Konevski The Progress
Having just one more reason to come to school can make the difference between a student who graduates, and one who doesn’t. That’s the philosophy underpinning a program at C.H.A.N.C.E Alternate school that takes in old bikes, and teaches students to fix and ride them. The six-week, extra-curricular option is nearing 10 years, and combines mechanical education with fitness. Other similar programs at the school include cooking, weight-training, and art. About 15 students have passed through bike shop this year, representing nearly 40 per cent of the school’s student body. With access to several dozen bikes, students learn to pump and patch tires, adjust gears, fit
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new brake cables, replace brake pads, repair spokes, and do other basic maintenance. “We teach them how to take care of their own equipment,” said program leader and educational assistant Dane, who asked that only his first name be used. Sometimes on a nice day, bike shop students will spend their hour cycling around the Prest Road area. There’s a sense of accomplishment from working with their hands, of a job well done, according to Dane. And students gain mechanical confidence through fixing a bike, which may help them do other things, such as fix a faucet leak. “A lot of our young people, they don’t have an opportunity at all. This gives them an opportunity that they feel they can relate to,” said Dane.
It doesn’t matter what a student’s ability is. Some ride bikes, others scooters. Some come to repair parts and work with their hands, others for the riding. Some are there just to hang out in a safe place. What’s important is that they choose to come to school that day. “If it’s biking, or cooking, or whatever, that might be the one hook that keeps them here, rather than not being in school at all,” said Dane. Students are at C.H.A.N.C.E for a variety of reasons, but a common one is that they have trouble keeping up their attendance. For some students, the bike shop might be that one thing that gets them out of bed in the morning. “It gives you something to look forward to when you go to
school,” said 14-year-old Jesse Reusch, who has become especially good at riding one of the shop’s several unicycles. The flexible program occasionally supplies bikes to students across the district, whenever there’s someone who struggles getting to school. People also drop off bikes for a tune-up. Thirteen-year-old Richard Trudel is fixing up a bike to donate to his sister, after hers was stolen recently. He joined the program because it’s fun, he said, and because there are many different activities that participants can do. “I’ll be at home, and I’m like a couch potato. Here I’m like a ball of energy,” he said. He’s hoping Dane starts a project to make a go-kart out of scrap bike parts. In the last few years, the shop
Local residents had a chance to confront Kinder Morgan and the Fraser Valley Regional District regarding the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project Tuesday night. Members of Pipe Up Network, Lynn Perrin and Michael Hale, were finally granted delegation seats at the FVRD board meeting, allowing them 10 minutes to present their concerns. Perrin was previously refused a delegation seat, on the grounds that an agreement with Kinder Morgan to survey the Cheam Lake Wetlands had already been signed. Kinder Morgan is currently studying the wetlands to determine the path of the pipeline twinning. The company has several routing alternatives for the area, including diverting the line through the south side of highway. “We have a couple of options there. We haven’t landed on a decision, we’re working through that,” said Kinder Morgan representative Greg Toth, who received 20 minutes to speak about the project at Tuesday’s meeting. The ecologically sensitive wetlands are of special concern to the Fraser Valley. Bitumen from a spill may sink, complicating cleanup. “Can we risk a spill in the Cheam Lakes Wetlands? The natural values and ecosystem services provided by these wetlands are unique in this part of the Lower Mainland,” said Hale. There hasn’t been a serious spill in the area since the laying of the pipeline, according to Bill Dickey, FVRD director for the area. “People in our community have seen the pipeline in place for 60 years...and we’ve had really no incidents to speak of there. But we were under the assumption that any expansion would be contained within the existing right of way,” he said. Since the original pipeline was built, the region has experienced major physical changes, including the construction of the
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