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Over the course of the past six and a half years, longtime staff teacher Mark Smith has worked with thousands of BWorks students in our Earn-A-Bike, Earn-A-Computer and Learn-To-Ride courses. He’s been an integral part of BWorks’ success in inspiring local children and teens to dream big, care about the world around them and explore new possibilities through experiential learning.

He’s done this work for many years alongside an intensive day job, most recently serving as a local middle school English teacher. But this month, Mark is beginning a new chapter with BWorks, taking the plunge to join us as a full-time employee. This is a huge and exciting change, with Mark eagerly taking on a variety of offsite classes and events this fall, many of them in partnership with local schools, in addition to regular duties onsite at our headquarters. Mark is also a big asset for our mechanical team.

We recently sat down with Mark, who is an avid mountain biker, to ask him a few questions as he enters this new phase.

We’re so excited to have you on board in an expanded role. What are you most excited about as you look toward a bigger role with St. Louis BWorks?

I really love teaching. My most recent full-time job was teaching middle school English. While it was extremely fulfilling, something was missing. I missed “home.” Home for me is being involved in the outdoor recreation industry. It is something I have done for more than 20 years, and BWorks marries two things I love to do. I enjoy being an ambassador for cycling and being a conduit for young people in hopes they take an interest in outdoor activities. That is what I am most looking forward to. St. Louis BWorks wants to reach more students and provide them with outdoor recreation opportunities, and I want to be a part of that change.

When did you first become involved with BWorks, and what do you remember about those early days with the organization?

I started working at St. Louis BWorks in the spring of 2017 or 2018. My initial time at BWorks was spent working in the bike shop. When I was asked if I wanted to teach, I jumped at the chance. I spent most of my initial time as a teacher with BWorks teaching Earn-A-Bike classes offsite. Getting paid to ride your bike is the best!

Sometime we should count back and document just how many Earn-A-Bike, Learn-To-Ride and Earn-A-Computer courses you have taught as a BWorks teacher. You are quite the BWorks veteran and will now be teaching even more, year-round! As a teacher, why do the lessons in our programs stand out to you, or what do you think sets them apart? And what keeps you motivated to keep delivering these classes to local students?

Yes, I have taught a lot of classes at BWorks. (This really seems like a slick way to say I am “old,” but I will answer your question.) Our classes help open up kids’ minds to possibilities. When we teach the students about computers, we are demystifying a machine they use every day. Teaching the students how to stay safe on the road, while riding their bicycle, lets them know a bicycle can stand for freedom. There are so many things kids can do nowadays, but I enjoy seeing them realize riding a bike can unlock so many other enjoyable adventures. My daughter is a graduate of both the Earn-A-Bike and Earn-A-Computer courses. I remember when she decided to ride her bike to her grandmother’s house on the other side of University City from our house. This class helped prepare her for that adventure.

My motivation comes from me being able to continue to help others come to these realizations — and others I may have not thought of yet.

Are there one or two moments that have stuck with you over the years? Can you describe the moment(s) and what made it so special?

Yes. Once I was teaching an offsite class. It was day five of the class, so we are not quite ready for the graduation ride, but we have been working on drills and playing games to get the students ready for the graduation ride. This particular day we were playing The Incredible Shrinking Room. The goal of the game is to stay on your bike and stay inside the circle that gets smaller as the game goes on. It is a great game for working on your slow-speed bike handling. But this particular day, I had a student realize she could just slowly ride straight toward other students and benignly scare them into putting their foot down on the ground, which would eliminate them from the game. I made eye-contact with the student, and she knew that I knew what she planned to do to win the game. She then proceeded to glide straight into another student’s bike. It did not work since both students put their foot down on the ground, but I laughed out loud when she decided to make a go of her sneaky strategy. It was hilarious.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Just that if there is ever a St. Louis BWorks West, say, somewhere near the mountains, I am putting in for a transfer. LOL.

We have two part time positions, or one full time position for the right candidate. Both positions are up to 20 hours per week, Starting at $20/hr.Please check out the job descriptions at the links below and feel free to email us with any questions. 

Teacher Position  

Mechanic Position  

May 2, 2024

Greetings, Circuit Attorney Gore:

Last week, when news broke of nine-year-old Codi Walker being tragically pinned between two vehicles by a reckless, hit-and-run pickup truck driver — right beside a playground in St. Louis’ Baden neighborhood as Codi helped his mother unload a toy from their correctly parked van — community members cried out, pleading for real action and change. This outcry included members of our youth-focused nonprofit organization.

While our decades-long focus on bike education for the children and teens of St. Louis is, and should always be, full of joy (we get to witness hundreds of local youth every year gain lifelong skills and empowerment through our free Learn-To-Ride and Earn-A-Bike programs), we are deeply troubled to see yet another child harmed on area streets, in crosswalks, on sidewalks, and yes, even just trying to access a playground, as in this recent case.

BWorks exists to inspire children to pursue their dreams, care for the world around them, and explore new possibilities through experiential learning. But when a family or child cannot access the outdoors, or school, reasonably safely due to traffic violence, fulfillment of that mission becomes difficult indeed.

The human carnage on city streets continues to escalate, leading to increasingly frequent injury and death. St. Louisans increasingly feel deeply and reasonably anxious about everything from daily travel to work and school to simply accessing green spaces for much-needed refuge and fun within our communities. Driver behavior has become more and more shocking, violent and damaging.

It’s going to take a wide variety of efforts, from education to enforcement to infrastructure, to curb this crisis. BWorks is doing our part, and even growing our efforts and our team at present on behalf of St. Louis youth. Community members are doing their part, supporting victim after victim through GoFundMe efforts. And victims themselves, such as courageous Janae Edmondson, have gone above and beyond to speak out about the injustices, trauma and systemic neglect they have experienced.

We need your partnership, too, and are writing to urge our local courts and prosecutors to consistently and firmly hold reckless drivers accountable for the consequences of their actions on St. Louis streets. St. Louis BWorks recognizes that along with designing safer streets and educating road users, better outcomes require that those operating motor vehicles in an unsafe manner must be motivated to do better. That includes holding them accountable for doing otherwise. We must no longer tolerate the inhumane driver behavior that is endangering innocent children including Janae and Codi and so many others, and all of us, day after day after day.

Thank you for your important work on behalf of the citizens of St. Louis. We are happy to talk further.

Sincerely,

Patrick Van Der Tuin, executive director, Evie Hemphill, programs director

The BWorks crew would like to take a moment to celebrate Saint Louis University psychology student Maddie Robb, who has been volunteering her time and expertise with us in an incredible way this spring semester.

As part of a capstone course for her psychology graduation requirements at SLU, Maddie chose BWorks as a human services provider with which to volunteer significant time throughout the semester. Like so many of our incredible helpers, she has gone above and beyond for BWorks, and we are so grateful! All told, she’s worked with 10 different groups of Learn-To-Ride and Earn-A-Bike students. That is an incredible investment in the youth of St Louis.

We recently asked Maddie to reflect on her amazing efforts at BWorks (which continue!). She told us that when she was looking at recommended volunteer sites on SLU’s website, BWorks immediately stood out.

“I love working with kids, and biking was a huge part of my childhood — and is still a big part of my life — so volunteering at a place like BWorks seemed like a perfect fit,” she explained.

Maddie said she’s appreciated how each week’s Earn-A-Bike lesson builds on the week prior, developing skills that students will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

“It is really cool to see how engaged students are when taking part in activities like helmet decorating, tire patching, and taking apart and rebuilding the bikes,” Maddie said. “I have also enjoyed learning more about bikes alongside the students. For example, while assisting with one of the Earn-a-Bike classes, I learned that the first bikes ever created were made out of wood!”

As she’s helped coach groups of Learn-To-Ride students over the past four months, one moment looking back that really stands out to her is the first time she saw a student go from being unable to ride a bike to being confident enough to pedal all by themselves.

“We had been working on gliding all day, and this student had been working so hard on getting used to not looking down and being able to balance enough to earn their pedals,” Maddie recalled. “It was exciting to see the moment everything clicked and they were ready to try pedaling. It was even more exciting to see them pedal successfully and see how enthusiastic they were about the prospect of now being able to bike to school!”

She added that the whole experience has also had her thinking back to her own journey as a child, learning to ride a bike.

“I can remember how difficult going from having training wheels to not having them was. I definitely think I would have learned how to ride a bike much faster if I had learned how to balance without training wheels first!”

Maddie described her time with BWorks as a big highlight of every week — so much so that we may not have to say goodbye just yet as she looks toward her next school year at SLU.

“After seeing the impact BWorks has on its students, my passion for working collaboratively with others to make a difference in my community has only grown,” she said. “This volunteer experience has taught me so much and volunteering at BWorks has been so fun that I hope to continue to volunteer at BWorks next semester as well!”

(Maddie is in the back row on the left)