At the root of this idea was Cycling Club president Andrew Howell ’20, a biochemistry and molecular biology major who wanted to empower middle schoolers to develop strong study habits and positive behavior. “Middle school is a perfect place to start good habits in preparation for high school,” he said. David Fluharty ’19, Cycling Club vice president agreed adding, “So many students miss out on opportunities because they’re not motivated in high school, so we thought we could incentivize a good work-ethic early. We especially wanted to reach those who didn’t already have those good study habits in place.”
They devised a plan to reward middle school students with a ticket voucher every time they successfully turned in their homework or were recognized for good behavior. Prince Edward County Middle School principal Thomas Foster helped devise the details of the reward system so the competition would be fair for all students. Middle schoolers earned tickets from January to April, then entered them in a raffle drawing for a new bike at the end of the spring semester. The more assignments they completed, the better their chances of winning a bike. The Hampden-Sydney students even created an inspiring name for the program, based on the Prince Edward County Eagles mascot—called “Taking Flight.”
With a plan in place, the Cycling Club needed to raise more funds than their budget would allow to make this program successful, so they contacted Sandy Cooke, director of civic engagement at Hampden-Sydney, who suggested a fundraising collaboration with Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), a national leadership honor society at the College. Together, Andrew, David, and ODK president Hayden Gunn ’19 successfully raised enough money from the Hampden-Sydney community—over $5,000—to purchase 24 Schwinn all-terrain bicycles with accompanying safety gear. Hayden, an engineering physics and chemistry double major, enthusiastically stepped in to help contribute to the fundraising campaign saying, “Being a leader of leaders is a unique position to be in,” since it allowed him to bring leaders from many student organizations together for this project.