KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Olathe Leadership Lowrider Bike Club returned home last week from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., where they participated in an event focused on youth and future culture.
The club, which is meant for students in the Olathe School District, gained recognition for crafting lowrider bikes, demonstrating artistry, technical skill, and above all youth leadership.
Founded in 2017 by Erik Erazo, the club's real purpose is fostering mentorship and leadership among students.
"It’s a project-based mentoring program. And by project based I mean if you’ve ever painted a room with a buddy or worked on a car, you might have the deepest conversations and you’re not even looking at each other,” Erazo said.
The club boasts a 100-percent graduation rate among its participants, in all 13 chapters across the country. It got its start in Olathe.
"So when I founded this program back in 2017 what I was really looking for was a way to bring kids in to be able to have mentors with them and to really start talking about leadership and making sure that our kids were graduating high school. That’s exactly what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Sergeant Logan Bonney from the Olathe Police Department has been involved since the club's beginning.
“[It's] really just a tool that we use to be something consistent in their lives,” Bonney said.
“I’ve been with the club since 2018, first part of 2018 and we started with six kids. Now we’re up around 40 ... [students] start feeling like they need to be more accountable for their actions. And changing their path and graduating and going on to careers. And to me that’s huge.”
Former club president Ilan Cuomo-Wilkerson says it's had a major impact on him. It's not just about building bikes, it's about building better people.
“Lowriding represents individuality," he said.
"The things that you can get out of this club are unexpected but amazing ... Developing your social skills, making friends, connecting with people you may not have thought you wanted to before. And that has been my favorite experience in bike club. It developed into such a powerful and meaningful thing to me. It really felt like family. And so without it, I don’t know if I would really have the same perspective on the world.”
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an annual event that celebrates cultural heritage and the arts, bringing together artisans and creators from around the world.
During their six days at the festival, the group of students built a custom lowrider and had the opportunity to network with a diverse range of craftsmen and artists.
KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers stories involving downtown Kansas City, Missouri, up to North Kansas City. Share your story idea with Grant.
