Shredding for School: Researchers Study Links Between Skateboarding and Academic Success
September 18, 2019
By: Linda Jacobson
Source: Education Dive
Squeezed between the racks of T-shirts and displays of skateboards, Cole Taylor, a volunteer from the Nike Community Ambassador program, sits down with 8-year-old Daniel Basaldua to practice spelling words and complete math problems.
Other boys jump off their boards at the front door of the Garage Board Shop in East Los Angeles and find any spare corner to do their homework.
Two assignments completed, along with 20 minutes of reading, earns them points that they can redeem for time on the ramps behind the retail part of the space. What used to literally be a car repair business, the shop has evolved into a thriving after-school tutoring and youth entrepreneurship program —Skate-4-Education — where students from 8 to 18 create their own logos for apparel and boards, and take workshops in math, English, art, videography and youth empowerment.