As his friends rode their bikes to the park last summer, Oak Hill Elementary second grader Jon Silas Wiggins was still learning to steer with one hand. 

“Last summer, his friends started riding their bikes at the park, so it made us realize that it was time for him to start learning how to ride his bike so he can ride with his friends at the park,” Jon Silas’ mother Samantha Wiggins said. 

Jon Silas was born with a limb difference.  

Based on the information Samantha shared with Blue Valley Femineer sponsor Karen Stohlmann, she said Jon Silas’ right arm has a wrist  but no hand, which is referred to as a nub. He also has immobile small fingers called nubbins. 

Samantha said Jon Silas had a balance bike that helped identify difficulties with using handlebars, but prior to the Femineer project, he had never ridden a bike without training wheels.

“The main thing is his right arm is a little shorter than his left arm,” Samantha said. “He’s also not able to grip the handlebar to help direct it, so he would be turning and balancing with pretty much just his left hand.” 

Samantha reached out to Oak Hill Elementary School principal Keith Wohlgemuth in August 2025 to work on a project to help Jon Silas ride a bike. From there, Wohlgemuth contacted BVNW, and Stohlmann sent a message to Femineer members.

Stohlmann said having a client has made a difference to this project.

“It just puts a little more reality into the problem-solving process that we’re working on,” Stohlmann said. “It gave us a real person to be our client and a purpose beyond just learning.”

Stohlmann said they first met with Jon Silas’ family in October. Later on, the seven Blue Valley Femineer members, who volunteered in November 2025, split into groups of three and four to develop two separate attachments. 

“One of the prototypes is using an electrical circuit with a 12-volt battery and a solenoid. Their material is a heat-adjusted plastic that they’re cutting and molding into the adaptive piece,” Stohlmann said.

Junior Isabella Large has been in the Femineer program for three years. She is part of the second group, which is 3D-printing a glove-like attachment designed to fit Jon Silas’ wrist. 

Their prototype has an adjustable half-cylinder piece to fit his arm as he grows and can be used on multiple bikes. At the bottom of the cylinder, there is a screw attached to a ball socket joint which connects to the bike, allowing it to stay in place so Jon Silas can steer. 

Throughout the process, Large and her team have had to make adjustments. 

“We’ve been having to work on our attachment because the attachment itself would get too loose, and he would be able to move the prototype around without moving the bike handle, which is not ideal,” Large said.

“We adjusted the handlebar so it was closer to him, but then we made the actual prototype shorter so it wasn’t pressing into his arm as much,” Herron said. 

Large said the most rewarding part of the process has been seeing Jon Silas bike around the halls of BVNW. 

“Being able to see him do something that some of us might take for granted,” Large said. 

Samantha said the students have communicated well with Jon Silas throughout the process. 

 “The girls have been really good at thinking through and asking us what changes we want, and they’re really good with talking to him about it,” Samantha said. “He loves video games, so they’ve all enjoyed talking about video games together.” 

Jon Silas said it is helpful that the girls worked on this project. He particularly liked that the attachment allowed him to put his hand in and out easily, rating his excitement an 8 out of 10 for the final product.  

The Femineers gave Jon Silas both attachments at the Femineer showcase May 2, where all projects from this year were displayed in the BVNW commons.