MOSES LAKE — It was a good morning for a bike ride.

It was also a good morning for five lucky North Elementary School students to win bicycles and take that ride.

“It feels good to have won this,” said North fourth-grader Julia Rojas as she stood next to her father Peter. “But this is for my brother. I already have a bike.”

Rojas was one of five winners of an essay contest sponsored by Big Bend Community College to mark the opening of the Joe Rogers Bike Trail in Moses Lake on Saturday.

“Big Bend Community College called and suggested having a coloring contest, and I said what if we have an essay writing contest, ‘Why bikes are the best way to get around Moses Lake,’” said principal Kelly Frederick.

Frederick said the essay contest was announced the day before school began and promoted heavily at Back-to-School Night.

“It was due last Friday. They had a couple of weeks to do their essay at home,” she said.

Winners included Rojas; fourth-graders Noreli Zamora, Izaac Valdez and Raquel Zacarias; first-grader Austin Walkup and fifth-grader Lily Tun.

“I think bikes are fun. All you have to do is steer the bike, paddle and look straight and go fast. So I think bikes are better than walking,” wrote Raquel Zacarias.

Each student who won a bike also got a free helmet courtesy of the Grant County Health District. The district gave away helmets to anyone who wanted one.

At an assembly on Friday, Frederick said North Elementary School received a $500 grant from Verizon to help continue fostering a culture of belonging at North.

“If kids feel like they belong to a school and community, they will know that serving is a part of that,” the North principal said.

Frederick said the funds would be used for cleanup around the school — such as replacing damaged wooden fence boards — as well as a peer peacekeeping and helping program at recess.

“It’s about service to each other and the community,” Frederick said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.