Seward Montessori kids to get their Freiker on

photo by foxtongue

Montessori kids on the loose, again

​We've always been a little jealous of Montessori kids. They have supreme puzzle solving skills, amazing dictation and seem to cherry pick their way into top liberal arts colleges. Now, they'll have another awesome advantage: the Freiker bike and walk tracking system. If you believe the hype, this futuristic system will be a help the kids and their school in "reducing traffic congestion, improving air quality, promoting a sense of neighborhood community and developing lifelong healthy habits like walking, cycling and wearing a helmet." What's next, Seward Montessori, everlasting life?

Kids getting their Freiker on:



Pretty simple. Pretty cool. And there are plans to provide incentives for the kids bicycle or walk to school the most, beyond the awesomeness of getting ZAPPED each morning.

More about the system:

Freiker (frequent + biker, rhymes with hiker) a non profit company out of Boulder, Colorado, pioneered the concept of using RFID technology and incentives to encourage kids to bike or walk to school. They currently have programs in 11 schools in 4 states. Steve Norman at Freiker says, "The Freiker/Dero ZAP system does the counting and the prizes provide the motivation".

According to Ned Levine, Crest View Colorado Elementary School Principal, "Our bike racks are overflowing. Everybody at Crest View loves the Freiker program and the extra encouragement it provides to students to bike to school".

The Dero Bike Rack Company, is located in the Seward neighborhood and manufactures the ZAP devices. Dero will be donating a ZAP system to the Seward Montessori School in order to kick start the program locally. Freiker distributes the systems to K-12 schools. Dero markets them to university and corporate campus'. 15% of all Dero sales are donated to Freiker to further their efforts to get kids riding, providing measurable results and energizing the school community.

The system will be presented to the school and demonstrated at 7 am Wednesday, September 16th. Speakers from Freiker, Seward Montessori and local dignitaries will dedicate the system.

UPDATE: Mayor RT Rybak, a man recently named checked by President Obama, will be present at the ceremony.