LYNWOOD, CA – Marco Antonio Firebaugh High School students are putting the pedal to the metal through the new Bike Tech Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway and Ride Club, opening a space for the school’s vibrant bicycle and eco-green culture to come alive and gather student enthusiasts for bike rides throughout Southern California.

The pathway, which debuted at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, engages students through hands-on learning and prepares them for a growing workforce demand in eco-mobility and sustainable transportation.

“The bike tech pathway is a great way for students to learn basic mechanics and gain confidence in their problem-solving skills,” Firebaugh bike tech teacher Max Olmos said. “Even something as basic as taking a bike apart and putting it together is a great skill to have, especially when the students are working together and developing camaraderie.”

Olmos and his wife are longtime cyclists who have biked their way through Europe and participated in scores of recreational races over the years. Along the way, Olmos became familiar with Project Bike Tech, a Colorado-based bicycle education provider, and wanted to bring the engaging program to Firebaugh.

Lynwood Unified CTE Coordinator Juan Barroso agreed, and said the program provides an option for students to step away from their devices, learn valuable transferable skills and have fun outdoors.

“Firebaugh High School has a tremendous bike culture on campus, and the pathway has resonated quite well with our students,” Barroso said. “It’s a great approach to hands-on learning that teaches the physics of biking, and provides an alternative to screens and devices.”

The pathway was proven extremely popular in its first year, with nearly 100 students enrolled in three separate Level One classes, where they learn basic mechanic techniques for bike repair, receive a better understanding on how green transportation and sustainability can create urban mobility solutions, and prepare for careers in transportation, engineering or technical sectors.

“Bike tech is a great class because even if you don’t have any mechanical skills before joining the class, you will learn them in a fun setting,” Firebaugh junior and Ride Club president Jesus Herrera said. “This class is great for the person who loves to wrench on stuff like me, or the person who wants to gain confidence to fix things with their hands.”

Bike tech students learn proper tool usage and the importance of being organized when they perform maintenance, including “knolling” their equipment – taking every tool and laying it out neatly before the work begins. The class also emphasizes the importance of safety precautions, with students learning and being tested on various chemicals they will encounter during typical bike repair.

“What is really impressive is how much initiative the students have shown outside the class,” Olmos said. “I have had parents tell me how their child came home and fixed a ceiling fan, or heard about another student who fixed their friend’s bike so they can go on more bike rides. We’re building a community of riders and helping to facilitate positive experiences for the students.”

The success of the bike tech pathway led to the creation of the Ride Club, which allows students to expand their horizons by planning long distance rides to various destinations in Southern California, exploring new neighborhoods, making new friends and staying healthy.

One of the first Bike Club rides took more than a dozen Firebaugh students down the Los Angeles River bike path to Bell, where the group visited the Southeast Los Angeles Bicycle Center, a popular hangout for bicyclists. Future rides include a trip to Bixby Knolls, Long Beach for a meal at Thunderbolt Pizza.

Currently, Firebaugh students can enroll in Intro to Bike Tech, with plans to add a Level Two Bike Tech class next year, focusing on more advanced specialty skills, including ebike maintenance. As the pathway continues to develop, Olmos said the goal is for students to begin the pathway in their freshman year while encouraging them to pursue other technical courses to support their learning and experiences, such as engineering.

“Firebaugh’s Bike Tech Pathway is a prime example of providing experiential learning opportunities that integrate real-world skills with our students’ everyday interests, and we are fortunate to have teachers who are equally as passionate to lead in the classrooms,” Superintendent Dr. Patrick Gittisriboongul said. “Lynwood Unified’s CTE programs provide a vast array of personalized learning opportunities for every student so that they can discover a pathway they can thrive in school and beyond.”

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

FIREBAUGH_CTEBIKEPATHWAY1: Nearly 100 Marco Antonio Firebaugh High School students are enrolled in the new Bike Tech Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway, receiving hands-on experiences in bike mechanics and safety while learning about a growing workforce demand in eco-mobility and sustainable transportation.

FIREBAUGH_CTEBIKEPATHWAY2: Bike tech students learn proper tool usage and the importance of being organized when they perform maintenance, including “knolling” their equipment – taking every tool and laying it out neatly before the work begins.