SABINE PASS — Kailyn Velazquez was just plain “shocked” to receive a new bike Wednesday.

Her sister, Kinley Velazquez, was “really excited.”

“My old bike is really rusty and the grips hurt my hands,” she said. That’s behind her.

The two fourth-graders were among some 30 students at Sabine Pass School to earn bicycles presented by Academy Sports and Outdoors in Port Arthur. Academy has participated in the 16-state bike giveaway, through which 5,500 bicycles will go to deserving students this year, for 17 years.

Store manager Jennifer Veitch — she started at Academy the same year as the bicycle program — said the store rotates every Christmas season through schools near her store, located on Memorial Boulevard. Academy last visited Sabine Pass in 2009. It’s the most fun program in which the store is involved, she said.

“I think it makes us happier than the kids,” she said.

Veitch said the store leaves it up to schools to determine how to distribute the bicycles. Most choose to award the bicycles by some form of merit.

Chosen by merit

That’s not easy at Sabine Pass, which is an academically competitive school with about 400 students, K-12, who commute from as far away as Beaumont. Most students are from Sabine Pass, Port Acres and Port Arthur.

Superintendent Kristi Heid said “most everything is merit based” there: Students were nominated to receive the bikes and helmets based on attendance, reading and — this is important — “getting caught doing something good.” Some students made the list by showing dramatic improvement in grades or conduct.

Still, school leaders found more than 30 students in grades 2-5 who were worthy of the bikes and had to winnow the list down by a random selector. Grades 2-5 were selected for inclusion in the drawing because they are the children of the most appropriate size for the bicycles.

Troy Gragg, in his fourth year as Sabine Pass principal, said it’s always a boost for the school when students make good efforts and are rewarded.

“We have wonderful students,” he said of the K-12 school. “We get to see them grow up.”