Harvard offers Summer Explorations for area youngsters
On a beautiful, blue-sky day in late July, Ryan Dell sat on his bicycle alongside several other excited novice cyclists, eagerly waiting for the three words that would set them off across the parking lot of the Harvard Ed Portal in Allston. “Ready, set, go!” yelled the 8-year-old from Brighton. “Let’s go, let’s do this!” Ryan and his twin sister, Kaylee, were two of the children who participated in the “Beginners Biking Workshop,” one of nine Summer Explorations offered by the Ed Portal. While some of the rising second- through fourth-graders were just learning to ride, the twins had already developed some biking skills. But there was still much to learn — why it’s important to wear a helmet, hand signals, and about all the moving parts of a bike. Then, just outside the Ed Portal’s back door, the young cyclists got to spin around the parking lot, with plenty of adults...