Santa Barbara Middle School Graduate Jacob Seigel-Boettner Leads Effort to Supply Rwandan Coffee Farmers With Bicycles

Seigel-Boettner Credits Unique Curriculum of Santa Barbara Middle School With Building Character and Confidence

SANTA BARBARA, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/10/08 -- UC Berkeley student Jacob Siegel-Boettner (20) says he learned a great deal both inside and outside of the classroom during his time at Santa Barbara Middle School (www.sbms.org). Known nationally for its unique curriculum which combines a strong emphasis on academics and the creative arts with community involvement and outdoor education, Mr. Siegel Boettner credits the school's mandatory mountain biking, kayaking and backpacking trips for building character and showing him the impressive distances one can travel with just two wheels and determination.

He adds that touring the back roads and bike trails of Central Arizona and the wilderness of Santa Barbara County also taught him the importance of keeping a bicycle in top mechanical condition through regular maintenance. Now he's applying these lessons to the greatest challenge of his life: establishing bicycle repair shops in the poorest rural areas of Rwanda. It's all part of a global effort by several non-profits such as Project Rwanda to replace unreliable, hand-built wooden bikes commonly used by coffee farmers with new bicycles to more efficiently transport their harvest to market.

"As a student at the Santa Barbara Middle School where one-week cycling trips are part of the curriculum, I learned about self-sufficiency and developed a desire to confront challenges with realistic solutions," said Seigel-Boettner. "Bicycles are essential in the daily life of the Rwandan coffee farmers. By making new bicycles available to them through a micro financing program, they continue to play a key role in rebuilding their country's economy. Perhaps more importantly however, the bicycle gives a sense of hope to a people who have lost everything."

Located near the foothills of Santa Barbara's majestic Santa Ynez mountains, Santa Barbara Middle School is the only co-ed independent school concentrating on the needs of the middle school years (grades 6 - 9) with a strong emphasis on hands-on, applied learning that builds confidence. Recently, SBMS students participated in the second annual Ride 4 Rwanda bike-a-thon organized by Mr. Seigel-Boettner to raise public awareness and funds for the plight of the Rwandan farmers.

Led by mountain bike industry pioneer Tom Ritchey, Santa Barbara Middle School faculty, students and their family members brought in over $5,500 for the central African nation, still reeling from nearly 60 years of intermittent war and an episode of devastating genocide in 1994. Prior to the Ride 4 Rwanda event, Mr. Ritchey inspired students with an impromptu pep talk, drawing on his nearly thirty years worth of experience biking around the world.

"If I had been lucky enough to attend Santa Barbara Middle School myself, I think I would have recognized much sooner the impact that each one of us can have, and should have, in being good global citizens," Mr. Ritchey commented, his voice filled with emotion. "I've spent most of my life devoted to the sport I love and my business. Now I have the opportunity to use them both to contribute to wonderful causes like Ride 4 Rwanda and Project Rwanda."

Later that evening, participants celebrated at the 23rd Santa Barbara International Film Festival where reporters from the school's student journalism class, Teen Press, presented Angelina Jolie and husband Brad Pitt with Project Rwanda bike jerseys and conducted an exclusive interview with the couple on the red carpet.

"I'm not surprised to hear that Jacob is already making a difference in the world," commented Dick Davidson, business manager/athletic director of Santa Barbara Middle School. "Over the years we've seen so many of our graduates excel in life, from doctors and scientists to business and civic leaders. We're delighted that our students choose to use their confidence and well-honed riding skills for such a noteworthy cause."

Ted Hill, a member of the accreditation team at the California Association of Independent Schools agrees that the school's highly regarded 'four-sided' curriculum gives students a decided advantage. "It becomes obvious to anyone who has been on the SBMS campus for thirty seconds or three days that this school is a remarkable enterprise of both students and adults," he stated. "It is unlike anything else in the world."

Mr. Seigel-Boettner will soon be joined by mountain bike legend Mr. Ritchey when he travels to Rwanda's capital, Kigali. Using his considerable experience in the cycling world and financial resources, he says he will provide further support to Mr. Seigel-Boettner's efforts to establish bicycle repair shops in several rural areas.

About the Santa Barbara Middle School

The Santa Barbara Middle School is the only stand-alone co-ed accredited middle school in California, part of the California Association of Independent Schools. SBMS was founded in 1976 by a group of students, parents, and teachers concerned about the junior high years, seeking to create a school that would combine an innovative, challenging academic program with an environment responsive to the many needs of adolescent students.

Santa Barbara Middle School cultivates in its students a passion for life and life-long learning, a deep sense of trust in themselves, strength and courage to succeed at life's challenges, and compassion and respect for others. It is located at 2300 A Garden Street in Santa Barbara, California. www.sbms.org or (805) 682-2989.

Media Contact: Alissa Sears Christie Communications 805.969.3744 alissa@christiecomm.com

2008-04-10 23:02:15 0333590 MARKETWIRE