Twila Cancilla, Roger Crane, Richard Rizzonelli, Claudia Mennuti

“Re-Bicycle: Helping the Earth and Others”, Cancilla and her colleagues’ innovative teaching idea, is designed to have students, working  collaboratively, divert waste from landfills by refurbishing found and discarded bicycles. The bikes will be refurbished in automotive  and engineering elective classes, so that the bicycles can then be donated to local public and private agencies to meet the needs in the  local community. Students will integrate their science, English and math skills as they work on refurbishing the bikes. Science  assignments will include lessons in physics and environmental impacts. English assignments will include writing a research paper and  giving a speech, and math assignments will include measurements, data collection and analysis. Critical thinking and problem-solving  skills also will come into play as the students work cooperatively to meet the challenges of the program. The fact that the bicycles will  be donated to community organizations that will give them away to people who are in need promotes a positive community and a real-world  connection to what is happening in the school.