A new bike shop rolling into North Denver will double as a classroom–just in time for the school year. See, this bike shop is part of larger organization that utilizes it along with a coffee shop as part of learning environment for students while providing first rate products and service.
Framework Cycles, set to open at 3655 Navajo St. early next month, is the second business launched by Great Work, Inc., a local education nonprofit. The organization also launched the adjacent coffee shop, Pinwheel Coffee in tandem with a local school in 2017.
“Our focus is primarily on commuter and utility/cargo bikes,” said Brian Sense, Executive Director of Great Work, Inc. “We want to encourage people to get out of their cars and onto a bike that fits their lifestyle, whether that’s commuting to work, dropping kids off at school or grocery shopping.”
Framework will be selling a handful of unusual and unusually functional bikes from Opus, Benno and WorkCycles, and its full-service shop will offer everything from safety inspections to pro tune-ups.
While the shop is fully staffed with professional mechanics and sales folks, patrons may also notice a different sort of vibrancy since both Framework Cycles and the coffee shop next door double a classrooms for 7th- and 8th-grade students.
Great Work, Inc., collaborated with local Junior and Senior High Schools to launch Pinwheel Coffee two years ago, and everything from its location to its name was chosen by students who elected to take the “Micro-Economy and Coffeeshop” class. Students then spent that class time each week being mentored by full-time staff as part of their learning curriculum.
“The managers involve them in making decisions, which helps (students) understand what they’re doing and why,” Sense said. “They’re public-facing roles, and the businesses themselves are high-functioning, professionally run and fully- staffed businesses, which gives it an authenticity for learning purposes.”
The success of that business model led Great Work, Inc., to launch both Framework Cycles and Embark Education, a micro school that will hold its first day of classes on Aug. 19. Micro-schools tend to be independent organizations centered on personalized instruction, integrated and responsive curriculum and small class sizes.
The Benno e-Joy, one of the bikes that will be for sale at Framework Cycles.
lessons at both Pinwheel Coffee and Framework Cycles. The school currently has 16 students enrolled for fall and that there’s no tuition charge as costs are covered by business revenue.
“All the curriculum for our school is embedded in the operation of the two businesses,” Sense said. “Math comes in the form of budgeting. History and geography comes from ordering the beans and learning about the region where the beans came from. Physics comes from learning how to repair bikes, and going riding to learn about centripetal force. And it all builds leadership skills and business experience.”
“Typically, folks come in come because it’s a great coffee shop,” Sense said. “We want the public to see these great businesses that are competitive in the landscape — there just happens to be this other aspect as part of our mission, serving as classrooms for Embark.?
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