In front of most schools across the country, there is a red and white sign near the entryway that reads: “No Skateboarding.”
Colleges and school districts have long fought against the sport because allowing students to skate on campus causes damage to school infrastructure.
However, there’s a Durango school that is trying to break the mold by allowing students to skate on campus and even integrating it into the curriculum.
The Juniper School, a charter elementary and middle school on Sawyer Drive, piloted its skate program this spring, and it has quickly become one of students’ favorite activities.
Students are allowed to checkout skateboards during their recess times as a form of social-emotional learning and physical education.
Head of School Philip Werline said when the program first started, there was only one student who knew how to skate. Now, 10 to 15 students can be found zooming around and going off small ramps. The school designated the northeast portion its courtyard for skateboarding where students can attempt obstacles like small ramps. Having a designated area helps prevent skaters from crashing into other students.
It also has a small paved hill that allows students to practice downhill skateboarding.
“All of kids, for the most part, had zero experience,” Werline said. “And so the best part about this was a common entry level where kids could relate to not knowing what to do.”
Some might be confused as to how skateboarding can be used in an academic setting. But Werline said it has been positive for both social-emotional and conventional learning.
The school’s skateboarding program was the brainchild of fifth grade teacher Matt Ogburn, who had integrated skateboarding at other schools he’d worked at previously. The school has around 18 skateboards that were either donated or from kits purchased by Juniper.
At Ogburn’s other schools, he found that skateboarding broke social cliques and allowed students to become more accepting of others. Often, social conflict can create difficulties in learning for students.
But skateboarding can help students apply conflict-resolution to their school work. It teaches students how to break big challenges down into steps – a skill that could be used in scenarios like solving a difficult math problem, Ogburn said.
Ogburn said one of the major components to the program is a sense of personal accountability. Some students were tasked with building their own skateboard from the kits, allowing students to learn technical skills while also being responsible for taking care of the board.
Students were also tasked with designing artwork for the board during art classes at Juniper.
Juniper’s education model emphasizes social-emotional learning as a key component. But skateboarding is also a way for students to get used to taking risks. With many students inexperienced, it gives them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, Ogburn said.
Educators also touted its application to core school subjects, especially physics. Students, under the supervision of teachers, are allowed to build their own ramps.
Students are equipped with helmets and pads for safety. If a student falls, one or more of their peers race to check if they are OK and help them up. An adult supervisor is always on duty to make sure students are being safe.
“So many kids with academic differences, over time, develop this belief that they can’t do stuff,” Ogburn said. “They hide what they don’t know, the skill sets they don’t have. Here, everybody’s taking the risk.”
Student attendance has been a problem at school districts across Colorado after the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators are struggling to keep students in the classroom.
State data for the 2023-24 school year, released by the Colorado Department of Education, showed that 27.7% of students were chronically absent.
Ogburn said if the Juniper School is able to take something that interests students outside of the classroom and apply it to a classroom setting, it will keep them better engaged with learning.
Juniper’s decision to start a skateboarding program coincides with the growing popularity of the sport.
Youth interest in skateboarding is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.1% from 2023 to 2030, according to a skateboard market report completed by Grand View Research.
The sport was also added to the 2020 and 2024 summer Olympics, further increasing its popularity.
“I knew it was successful when we had kids checking out the skateboards over the summer,” Werline said.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
