Over 120 students attending Allerton’s New York Institute for Special Education, took part in the school’s annual “Trike-A-Thon” event on May 15 to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Manhattan.

 

The Trike-A-Thon is a school tradition that has been ongoing for 20 years, and school officials said the money raised will be donated to the hospital, which treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

Irene Fernandez Gomez, the school’s principal said of this year’s Trike-A-Thon, “It’s a great cause but it’s also tapping into what we’re trying to teach the students. They’ve been working hard on developing coordination, motor planning, the ability to be able to pedal, just like their typically developing peers, so we’ve been working on that all year leading up to this big event.”

 

The children demonstrated both their sensory and motor skills as they raced around the hallways of the school, located at 985 Astor Avenue, paying attention to stop and go signs along the way.

 

“All of the kids can participate and many of them are pedaling independently,” said Gomez. “Some of them are using a push bar while others that are still learning the skills are using modified bicycles and trikes.”

The institute’s employees and departments sponsored the preschoolers, kindergarteners, and second graders that crossed the finish line, while being cheered on by spectators waving pom-poms. When the students finished, they were met with medals and honorary licenses for their participation in the event.

 

The New York Institute for Special Education, founded in 1831 as The New York Institution for the Blind, is one of the oldest and most respected schools in the nation that provides specialized services for children with disabilities according to school officials.

 

School representatives also said that the Institute provides quality programs for more than 100 children from The Bronx, ages 3 to 5, who attend its preschool.