About Tullahoma Re-Cycle
Tullahoma Re-Cycle teaches middle school students safe bicycle riding principles, basic bicycle repair and maintenance.
The program has been presented at Tullahoma East Middle and West Middle schools by Jessie Schwer and Joe Capezza with the grateful help of volunteers from the HR Bike Club.
The program was initiated several years ago with the intent that deserving middle school students would learn to completely tear down and rebuild a bicycle. This concept was based on a Nashville program which was conducted by professional bike mechanics in a bike shop. We have since condensed our program to essential repairs and maintenance and cycling skills.
The program was originally funded by a grant from the City of Tullahoma, with bicycles drawn from the police impound lot. That grant has expired and the impound lot is empty. The program now relies on support from the Jeff Roth Cycling Foundation and donations from the Mach Ten Running Club.
We currently have a fleet of donated bicycles that can be repaired at a reasonable cost; however, we need donations to keep the program going (it costs approximately $100 per student – exclusive of the bicycle – to run this program), and volunteers to assist in mentoring students.
Our goal is to put ten students through the program each year using multiple sessions of not more than 5 students per session.
