Shawn Reimer loves to teach and he loves to cycle, so the math and science teacher at Winnipeg’s General Wolfe School married his two passions, and the Bike Den was born.

The Bike Den is an eight-week, hands-on bicycle maintenance and repair program for Grade 9 students at the West End school. Students work on second-hand bikes donated by the WRENCH (Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub), a non-profit community bike shop in Winnipeg.

“I love my job working with kids and teaching math and teaching science, but to have the opportunity to do something a little bit more hands-on with smaller groups was really appealing to me,” Reimer said.

Reimer was inspired to start the program at General Wolfe after seeing a similar program years ago while substituting at Hugh John Macdonald School.

“I was really impressed and thought it looked really cool,” he said.

Students in the program strip bikes down and rebuild them, Reimer said.

They learn repair and maintenance and, in the end, students get to keep the bike, a lock and a helmet. They also learn some safe riding skills.

For Grade 9 student Koen Porter, the program has made getting around much easier.

“The buses are complicated. So, for me, it’s easier to just, like, bike back and forth,” said Porter.

“I didn’t have a bike for the longest time. And then when I saw the opportunity in Bike Den, I decided to take it.”

The Bike Den is now the subject of a short video by students in the Create program at Winnipeg’s Sisler High School, a post-high school program that trains students in the creative digital arts, including filmmaking.

Create students Caleb Saladaga, Nevah Davies and Kingsley Shewchuk produced the new short video.

Click the player above to watch it.

Meet the filmmakers

More about Project POV: Sisler Create

CBC Manitoba’s Project POV: Sisler Create is a storytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBC Manitoba journalists to produce short docs. You can see past projects here. 

The Winnipeg School Division’s Create program is hosted at Sisler High School and trains post-high students in the creative digital arts.

During fall 2025, CBC journalists taught storytelling to filmmaking students and led producing workshops at Sisler.

Create focuses on education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.