Durango’s Juniper School integrates skateboarding into its curriculum – The Durango Herald

The Charter program uses sports to help students with social-emotional learning, among other skills

In front of most schools in the country, there is a red and white sign near the entrance that says: “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 is one Durango school that is trying to break the mold by allowing students to skate on campus and even integrating it into the curriculum.

Juniper School, a charter elementary and middle school located on Sawyer Drive, piloted its skating program this spring and it has quickly become a favorite activity for students.

Students are allowed to check out skateboards during their recess times as a form of social-emotional learning and physical education.

School principal Philip Werline said that when the program started, there was only one student who knew how to skate. Now, 10 to 15 students can be found running around and riding down small ramps. The school designated the northeast part of its playground for skateboarding, where students can try to navigate obstacles like small ramps. Having a designated area helps prevent skaters from colliding with other students.

It also has a small paved hill that allows students to practice skateboarding down it.

“Most of the kids were inexperienced,” Werline said. “And the great thing about it was that there was a common entry level where the kids could understand that they didn’t know what to do.”

Some people may not understand how skateboarding can be used in an academic setting, but Werline says it has been positive for both social-emotional and conventional learning.

The school’s skateboard program was the brainchild of fifth-grade teacher Matt Ogburn, who had integrated skateboarding into other schools he had worked at previously. The school has about 18 skateboards that were either donated or from kits purchased by Juniper.

At other Ogburn schools, she found that skateboarding broke down social cliques and allowed students to be more accepting of others. Often, social conflict can create learning difficulties for students.

But skateboarding can help students apply conflict resolution to their schoolwork. It teaches them to break down big challenges into steps, a skill that could be used in situations like solving a difficult math problem, Ogburn said.

Ogburn said one of the main components of the program is a sense of personal responsibility. Some students were tasked with building their own skateboard from the kits, allowing them to learn technical skills while also being responsible for the care of the board.

Students were also tasked with designing artwork for the board during art classes at Juniper.

Juniper’s educational model emphasizes social-emotional learning as a key component. But skateboarding is also a way for students to get used to taking risks. Because many students are inexperienced, it gives them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, Ogburn said.

Educators also promoted its application in core school subjects, especially physics. Students, under the supervision of teachers, can build their own ramps.

Students are equipped with helmets and pads for their safety. If a student falls, one or more of their classmates run to check on them and help them up. There is always an adult supervisor on duty to make sure students are safe.

“Over time, many children with academic differences develop the belief that they can’t do certain things,” Ogburn said. “They hide what they don’t know, the skills they don’t have. Here, everyone is at risk.”

Student attendance has been an issue in school districts across Colorado following 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 27.7% of students were chronically absent.

Ogburn said if Juniper School can take something that interests students outside of the classroom and apply it in a classroom setting, it will keep them more engaged in 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% between 2023 and 2030, according to a skateboarding market report by Grand View Research.

The sport was also added to the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, further increasing its popularity.

“I knew it was a success when kids started trying out the scooters over the summer,” Werline said.

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