Springfield, Massachusetts July 12, 2021
Springfield Youth Christopher Collazo aka "Young Chris" is utilizing a portion of his summer to become a youth bicycle mechanic through RAD Springfield. Young Chris will be an 8th grader when he returns to Veritas Prep Charter School in the fall. He is a member of the Like MEntor Group with Seeds of a Father. Mom noted that Chris had a positive attitude after his first day of training. "He told me that he wants to build bikes for fun and then sell them to other youth, said Mom."
RADSpringfield has been collaborating with Make-It Springfield for several years providing bike repair and bicycle trainings for local youth. The Summer Bike Repair Training has its participants working to "refurbish donated and customer owned bikes to low income members of the community at minimal or no cost."
These youth bicycle mechanic trainees will acquire the hands on technical skills (bicycle mechanics and STEM) and leadership skills such as teamwork, communication skills, and problem solving skills to become effective youth bicycle mechanics. All youth partaking in the training will receive a certificate of completion along with a small stipend.