Ride Illinois recently wrapped up another successful year of our BikeSafetyQuiz mini-grant program! 45,343 students received bike education through our online BikeSafetyQuiz for the fiscal year that ended on September 30th.
Since 2018, Ride Illinois’ BikeSafetyQuiz mini-grant program has been shared with schools in Illinois as a means of offering bike education to their students. We’re pleased to say that the program has experienced growth each year since its launch, in part due to the incentive for schools to receive $2 per student for completing the quiz. Our program is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) with federal 405(h) funding for non-motorized safety.
For 2022, IDOT will be funding our grant for the fifth straight year. We will be able to issue mini-grants for 50,000 students for a total of $100,000. Please help us spread the word so we can meet our goal! In particular, we’d love to offer this program to more schools in central and southern Illinois. See the end of this article for more information.
From day one, the mini-grant program has had strong support from high school driver’s education teachers. For the second year in a row, Ride Illinois is making the funding available to all K-12 schools in Illinois, including elementary schools, middle schools, and high school P.E. and health classes
Applying for a Mini-grant is Fast and Easy
The mini-grant application process is really easy! After a teacher (or administrator) applies, Ride Illinois staff creates a custom copy of the Google Form(s) the teacher or administrator requested and shares a link to the Form (to share with students) and the Google Sheet that captures the results (to share with teachers and administrators).
Once schools have their quiz copy, teachers assign the online quiz to their students. Our quizzes provide students with an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. If a student answers a question incorrectly, a rationale is provided as to why the answer is incorrect. Then, the same question is asked again. After the class or school completes the quiz, the teacher completes a simple claim form. Then, Ride Illinois mails checks to the school. It’s as simple as that!
The chart below shows the reach of the BikeSafetyQuiz mini-grant program since its inception in 2018.
Learn more about our mini-grant program at rideillinois.org/safety/bsqgrants. Contact Ride Illinois at info@rideillinois.org or (630) 216-9282 with any questions or comments. Thanks!