By Marcus Suner

The Physical Education (PE) department of the Ateneo Senior High School (ASHS) offered a biking elective for the first time at the start of the second semester to Grade 11 and 12 students.

Headed by Coach Jah Agcaoili, there are currently 109 students combined, with around one to three first-time learners from each class. 

With the objective of learning how to ride a bike, developing road etiquette, and understanding the environmental and transportation effects of biking, the elective’s route is around and along the campus roads for their sessions, depending on the planned path for the day. 

“[Because] there’s a lot of trees and roads […], it’s easy to appreciate the experience which makes learning more possible,” Agcaoili described.

On top of addressing the growing concerns over motor traffic inside the campus and along Katipunan, Agcaoili emphasized the “continued need for physical activity opportunities […] considering [the] recovery of the population from COVID and post-COVID symptoms.” 

He also mentioned that Coach Mike Borromeo and the PE department pushed for its implementation due to the shift towards active transportation during the pandemic.

As it stands, there are ongoing projects to support the influx of bikers on campus. The ASHS administration has already requested for additional bike racks since last year on top of the donations coming from a batch of alumni.

However, Agcaoili stated that the main challenge of the elective is how to encourage students to bike more often given the parental influence on students and the current traffic condition in school. 

“There are parents who are still worried that their child might get injured. There are still a lot of vehicles coming inside the campus that also share the road. The road is our learning platform, and it has to be safe for the learners,” he added.

In line with coming up with alternative transport recommendations as well, Agcaoili said that the biking elective can be a source of data for future reference in improving transportation on campus.

Thumbnail from Jarrel Agcaoili