Parker Students, Faculty and Staff Reap Biking Benefits

Karen Shaw rides the "envirobuggy" through a light rain in front of Parker School.

Through rain, and vog, and occasional dark of night, the "envirobuggy" cycles on. For eight months, the yellow mountain bike with red trailer has been the sole mode of transportation for Parker School's Karen Shaw, providing health benefits and financial savings.

Shaw is just one of a number of faculty, staff and students at Parker School to reap the rewards of two-wheeling it. May officially is "National Bike Month," according to the League of American Bicyclists, but every month is bike month at Parker.

English Department Chair Kiyoshi Najita has been pedaling to work for more than 20 years, on the mainland and here on the Big Island. Three to four days a week he glides onto the Parker School campus after a 2-1/2-mile ride that takes him up some 300 feet in elevation.

"I wish more people would. I wish the roads were a little bit more conducive to it," Najita says, "but I'm not timid about traffic."

Assistant Headmaster Dean Partlow avoids cars by taking the back roads from his home to Parker School.

"It's introduced a slice of adventure and fun into my day," Partlow says. "Each year, I've picked up the bike and ridden a couple of times, but I'm far more dedicated to it now with gas at more than $4 a gallon. … The health benefits are an additional reward."

Middle-schooler Charles Fisher prefers to longboard or bike to school. Why? "Exercise" and "It's faster than walking," he says.

That speed, especially going downhill, also is a draw for twelfth-grader Saikat Mitra, from Bangladesh. “Biking is my best way to get to school on time,” he says.

The elements can present a bit of a challenge. If it's drizzling, the students don jackets, but if it's pouring, both say they get a ride from their families.

"Riding on a sunny day is relaxing. Riding in the rain is refreshing. But riding on those windy Waimea days is work," Shaw says. "Still, it's hana, work with purpose, because I'm living my ideals. And that's a great feeling, and a great example."

She knows of youngsters who have asked their parents for trailers so they can ride to school that way and who have said they will bike their children around when they get older.

"Isn't that wonderful?" she asks.

Assistant Headmaster Dean Partlow and English Department Chair Kiyoshi Najita are
among the faculty, staff and students at Parker School who bike to campus.

West Hawaii Today, May 28