BMX Champ Visits HCS and Delivers Powerful Message
The H.C. Storm Elementary School gym recently became center stage for Matt Wilhelm, a well-known BMX rider and motivational speaker. The three-time X Games medalist, World Championship silver medalist, two-time United States National Champion, and Guinness World record holder (that’s a mouthful!) was invited to HCS (sponsored by the HCS PTO), to not only show off his talents on a bike, but also share with students his difficult journey to success.
Matt grew up in Oak Lawn, Ill., and was made fun of for looking different and riding BMX. He said he was going to quit riding altogether after an intense bullying episode at the local dirt jumps. It was one of his peer’s kind words after this painful experience that kept him going, and changed the course of his career. The fellow biker simply said, “I heard what those guys did to you. You can always ride with me.”
Matt did just that, and has gone on to do some amazing things with his biking and public speaking talents, including sharing his story about empathy, resilience, and respect to elementary and middle school students around the country. You may have also seen him as a semifinalist on the television show “America’s Got Talent.”
Take a look at a few of Matt’s don’t-try-this-at-home BMX tricks that he performed for HCS students …
Aside from his amazing bike tricks, Matt had another focus at the assembly. It wasn’t on kids who bully others or even on their targets, but rather on everyone else, the bystanders. “Bystanders have the most power and can actually make a real and immediate difference,” said Matt. “They can transform into heroes.”
Matt encouraged every HCS student to be a hero. “Your small act of kindness may change someone’s life. You can be somebody’s Batman.”
