 At Bozeman's skate park, the action takes place in and around "the bowl" |
Bozeman, Montana--When the local newspaper ran a story about a group of kids who had nowhere to practice their sport, few local residents sympathized. Some were downright relieved to see the issue aired. After all, hadn't they seen these kids careening through the local supermarket parking lot, narrowly averting disaster as they dodged shopping carts and cars? Hadn't they seen them grinding down the walkway at the courthouse, bouncing off the marble benches and endangering the safety of innocent passersby? And hadn't these kids done so in defiance of posted signs outlawing skateboarding in public areas? No doubt about it, skateboarders were a bad lot.
But where some saw trouble, Kirk Astroth saw opportunity. Astroth saw kids who needed a safe place to go after school, a place where they could get positive messages and support, a place where they could belong. Astroth, Montana State University's Extension 4-H specialist, had spent years working with and researching youth programs, and was confident that a positive after-school environment could have a positive effect on these children. He had a great deal of anecdotal evidence to support this belief, and it was evidence that would soon be backed up quantitatively through an extensive study on the effects of after-school programs, specifically 4-H, on Montana youngsters.
The study, conducted by Astroth and his colleagues during the last two years, involved surveying more than 3,000 students in fifth, seventh, and ninth grades. The results were clear: Kids who participated in after-school programs for at least a year were more likely to succeed in school and less likely to engage in risky behaviors than those who did not participate in such programs. 4-H kids, in particular, were more likely than nonparticipants to get better grades, become leaders in their schools and communities, and get involved in service projects. 4-H participants were also less likely than other kids to shoplift or steal, use illegal drugs, ride in a car with a drunk driver, damage property just for the fun of it, skip school without permission, or smoke cigarettes.
When Astroth saw the newspaper story about the young skateboarders without a place to skate, he came up with a plan. If these kids would join 4-H, he could offer them one of the empty exhibit halls at the county fairgrounds once a week so they could come in and skate to their hearts' content. But the project couldn't be just a whirring, grinding free-for-all. To carry the 4-H label, the project would have to provide a safe environment with positive adult role models and offer educational opportunities for participants. And the kids would have to help "rent" the space from the county by engaging in community service--helping keep the grounds clean and free from trash, for example.
When the kids heard the 4-H proposal, Gallatin County 4-H Extension Agent Todd Kesner says they weren't daunted by the educational and service requirements of the program. They did have one concern. Kesner reports: "Their number-one question was: Do we have to raise pigs?"
For many people, 4-H evokes images of wholesome farm kids raising plump pigs and beefy cows, growing huge tomatoes and gigantic pumpkins, baking homemade apple pies and competing for blue ribbons at the county fair. It's an apt association considering the organization's rural roots. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and land-grant universities across the country, the program was developed around the turn of the 20th century to teach kids practical agricultural life skills. Since its inception, the program has employed an experiential learning approach--that is, teaching youngsters through hands-on projects, thus helping them "learn by doing." The four "H's" come from the club's motto: "I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service, and my Health to better living for my club, my community, my country, and my world."
This year, as 4-H celebrates its centennial anniversary, the club has a stronger presence than ever, not just in small towns out on the range, but in urban centers as well. In 2000, the program reached more than 6.8 million youngsters across the United States and had a presence in 82 countries worldwide, engaging youth from all ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. And while agricultural production and food preservation are still popular subjects of study in 4-H clubs, the program's focus has shifted to a loftier goal: helping youngsters to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enable them to become productive and contributing members of society.
Through 4-H projects, participating youth not only gain knowledge of subjects of interest to them, but also build self-esteem and acquire life skills in such areas as communication, decisionmaking, citizenship, and leadership. Further, projects give them the opportunity to investigate future career options and discover the joy of lifelong learning. "We're more interested in the kid than in the project," Kesner says. "We'd rather have a blue-ribbon child than a blue-ribbon project."
But the project is the hook that draws in the child. For this reason, 4-H offers what Astroth refers to as a "smorgasbord of projects" for kids to choose from--including, of course, the ever-popular animal projects. In Big Sky country and other rural regions of the Northwest, it's no surprise that horse projects are among the most frequently chosen. After all, Astroth and Kesner joke, people who move to Montana and get a couple of acres seem to think that getting a horse--or four--is something of an initiation. But a large number of kids still choose cattle, sheep, and swine projects, raising the young, preparing them for market, and maybe even raking in some profit when they reach the sale barn at the fair. Dog and cat projects are perennial favorites among kids who want to learn how to care for and train pets. But some make more exotic choices. Young Montanans have elected to raise buffalo, ostriches, or lizards.
Aside from animals, projects run the gamut from traditional 4-H activities like cooking and sewing to courses in photography and computer technology. And if a child's interests lie outside existing projects, 4-H makes accommodations for any new project that has educational potential. In Montana, this has included students mounting stream reclamation projects, keeping track of cutworm populations as part of ecosystem studies, and forming a club for young entrepreneurs.
"All of our programs must be educationally sound," says Astroth, who decided that Bozeman's skateboarding club would require a curriculum. If kids could be taught how to play football or how to ski, he argued, why couldn't they be taught the rudiments of skateboarding--things such as how to turn, how to stop, and how to fall safely? Astroth took the first stab at writing curriculum guidelines, referring to recent issues of skateboarding magazines for help with the lingo. When he shared his draft with skateboarders Travis Bos and Jeremy Adamich, two college-student volunteers who were helping set up the program, they got involved in writing the curriculum as well, partly because they needed to set Astroth straight on some things. After all, they told him, every "thrasher" (skateboarder) knew you couldn't do a "fakie" (a move where one rolls or lands backward) before a "goofy" (riding with the right foot forward).
So with the help of Bos and Adamich, as well as local skateboard shop owner Jay Moore and some of the older members of the club, a skateboarding curriculum--perhaps the first ever--was written. The result is an impressive 36-page guide to skateboarding, including guidelines for four levels of ramp and street skills; descriptions of equipment and safety gear; histories of the sport and the evolution of the skateboard; profiles of leaders in the sport during the last 25 years; tips on starting a skateboarding club; suggested designs for ramps, trailers, and skate parks; tips for skateboard club leaders; and a glossary of skateboarding terms. The guide, published in 1998 with help from the Turner Foundation (a philanthropic organization founded by Ted Turner, the media magnate, who owns a ranch in the area), is available for sale from Gallatin County 4-H. To date, copies have been sold in 35 states.
When Anna Epp brought her then-eight-year-old son, Adam, to the new 4-H Skateboarding Club, it was because she didn't want him skating in the park where she'd seen "thuggy-looking older kids" skateboarding. They wore baggy clothes, she noticed, and some had piercings and tattoos--not the kind of role models she envisioned for her son.
Epp says she was shocked to find that a couple of those "thugs" were college volunteers at the 4-H club--the very guys, in fact, who had helped Astroth write the skateboarding curriculum and who were devoting their time and energy to teaching little kids to skate. In retrospect, she says, "my first impression was wrong. These were really good kids. They've been great mentors, great teachers, great role models." Epp should know. She quickly signed on as one of the club's adult volunteers and has become known as "Skate Mom" to the kids.
Epp and co-leader Lorel McChesney have been there every Tuesday night, through deafening noise and seeming chaos, as anywhere from 40 to 120 kids on wheels have raced around the hall, barreling up ramps, catching air, and hitting the concrete with a grinding crunch. Through all the frenzy, Epp says she watched Bos, Adamich, Kent Rising, and others show up week after week to patiently instruct younger kids and offer positive encouragement--from comments like "right on" and "good try" to suggestions on how to approach a "trick" more successfully. They helped kids fix their boards when maintenance was required. They designed and built skateboarding ramps for the club and then a trailer to carry the ramps when some of the boys wanted to create a traveling team to help other 4-H groups around the state start skateboarding clubs of their own. A couple of these college volunteers, Epp reports, recently graduated from MSU with engineering degrees.
Research supports the importance of connecting kids with such principled and caring adults. In Bozeman, Kesner oversees the skateboard project, but is supported by an entire team of volunteers, including Epp and McChesney, as well as a handful of college students, all committed to helping kids learn not just how to skate but how to be successful in life. Kesner compares the model to days of old when kids grew up in small communities where extended family and neighbors had a vested interest in keeping kids on track, even if a parent or teacher wasn't around.
And just like yesteryear's one-room schoolhouse, the program uses a multiage approach to learning. Kids in Montana can be anywhere from nine to 19 to participate in the skateboard club. This cross-age grouping mirrors real life, Astroth explains, where people often learn from someone with more life experience.
The experience has been positive for both older and younger participants. Rising says he's found teaching rewarding, particularly when he sees "the happiness and elation" the little kids get "when they learn a new trick and they're excited they can show it off to all their friends." He adds, "I get a heartfelt feeling when I see that, because I know that I can help them do that."
Adam Epp, now 14, says he looks up to older guys like Rising who have become role models for kids like him. Adam, who plans to go to college someday, is considering becoming a PE teacher. If that's the case, he's already getting experience. As kids in the club gain experience and master skills, the older ones become "Junior Leaders," qualifying them to teach younger children in the group. Since Adam has passed the first three levels of skating proficiency, he is now in a position to pass on what he has learned. "I feel proud to be able to help the little kids," he says. "It gives me a good feeling."
The skateboarding club succeeded in getting kids off the street--some literally--when the doors to that county fair exhibit hall opened to skaters in 1997. As the club expanded and developed its extensive course in the sport of skateboarding, it has attracted a diverse group --some former 4-H'ers who had raised rabbits or participated in archery, some who belonged to other after-school groups like Boy Scouts or intramural sports, and some who were not "joiners" at all.
McChesney notes that skateboarding "allows for more personal expression" and, therefore, "appeals to kids who may not do as well in structured sports like baseball or soccer, or who may not have the funds to participate in more expensive sports like skiing." But it also appeals to the "haves" with snowboards and lift tickets, since skateboarding provides a great off-the-slopes workout.
Epp adds that the club has been an oasis of sorts for kids with troubles. "More of the kids' parents seem to have hardship these days," she says, citing "illness and divorce" as examples. "This is one place these kids can come where cancer--or whatever--is not part of their daily routine." They can leave that "baggage" at the door and skate away. Epp says a lot of these kids had nowhere to go before the club opened.
The only problem was, the skateboard club was only open on Tuesdays. One night a week. Not nearly enough.
That's when the group came up with the idea for a city skate park--a place where they could go outside of club night and practice their sport. The adults involved in 4-H gave the kids the guidance and support to go after their dream. Together, they came up with a proposal for a city skate park and took it to the city council.
To garner support for the project, they made presentations around town--to the city commissioners and to the county, to the Turner Foundation and to local adult groups like the Lions. The kids also made their plea to the public.
And here's where that nasty image of skateboarders-as-troublemakers reared its ugly head once again. Though there were many who supported the idea of a city skate park, there were vociferous opponents and an outbreak of NIMBY ("Not In My Back Yard").
But as McChesney points out, "Just because you own a skateboard doesn't make you a punk." The group decided to show just what they were made of. When they arrived to make presentations to the city council and to local groups, the kids came dressed in their Boy Scout, baseball, and soccer uniforms. If they played an instrument in band, they carried it with them. They showed the public that they were just a group of normal kids, "good kids" who merely wanted a place to skate. Then they changed into their skateboarding attire--baggy pants for flexibility, athletic shoes to grip their boards, safety helmets, and T-shirts, many with the slogan "Skateboarding is not a crime"--and gave a demonstration of the kind of maneuvers they were working to learn, much as a gymnast might show spectators how he does a handspring.
And they changed some minds.
They got city approval to move forward with plans to build a 150-by-50-foot concrete skate park in Kirk Park, a 12-acre green space off Main Street. And over the next two years, they raised enough money and material donations to build an $80,000 city skate park. The park opened in the fall of 1999.
Along the way, members of the 4-H club learned much more than how to skate. They engaged in public speaking and performance. They took part in fundraising and enlisted the help of adults in applying for grants. They studied the mechanisms of city planning and development. They became part of the civic process and succeeded in bettering their community. In fact, the kids' involvement in city government through this project was a key reason that Bozeman received an All-American City Award last year in Atlanta, where a small group of skaters traveled to tell their story and perform.
"If it weren't for the skateboarding club, there were quite a few of these kids who would have gotten in trouble," Epp surmises. "Parents have said that they never used to know where their kids were. Now, parents know they're at the skate park."
Clearly, the skateboarding club has turned out to be far more than just a place to go, far more than just an after-school PE class.
Epp and McChesney report that they saw several skate club members experience a boost in self-esteem. McChesney says, "It was very positive" for her son, Ben, "to get up in front of community leaders and give presentations." She also mentions, in particular, one at-risk youngster from Aware House, a local home for kids with behavioral and anger management issues: "In fundraising, he was just awesome. He raised a lot of money door-to-door, and we watched his self-esteem just shoot up because he was part of the effort. He was very enthusiastic and positive--got everybody fired up, and became a role model for others."
Additionally, the skateboarding club has introduced participants to concepts in just about every academic subject area. Language arts were addressed in the development of the curriculum guide and the delivery of public presentations and speeches. Math and physics were addressed in the design and building of ramps, a trailer, and the city skate park. Social studies were addressed through the kids' participation in the civic process. And there is no doubt that these lessons had more meaning because the kids had practical, hands-on experiences.
The fact that academic performance is improved by participation in such projects is now documented in the MSU study. As a result, Astroth says that, just as after-school programs support what's going on in the classroom, "schools need to support after-school programs. They need to cultivate and nurture them," since it's in the best interest of the kids. It's a win-win situation.
To create more support for well-designed and effective after-school programs, Astroth has been instrumental in developing the Montana Collaboration for Youth, composed of 10 statewide youth organizations: 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, YWCA, the Montana Council for Families (the state affiliate of Prevent Child Abuse America), Healthy Communications/Healthy Youth, and the Montana Recreation and Parks Association. These organizations are not in competition as some might think, Astroth notes, but instead have common interests and goals. By banding together, they hope to create a single, unified voice to attract more resources for youth programs.
When prevention funds become available from government grants, Astroth observes, they often go to "groups that have been formed just to chase the big green grants and then disband a couple of years later."
In contrast, groups such as 4-H and other members of the Montana Collaborative for Youth are already longstanding, effective prevention programs. Astroth says, "We already have the access to kids, the access to adults, the sustainability, the facilities."
What's more, 4-H has a century of success on its side. And if that isn't enough to convince the grantors, there are a few "thuggy-looking" kids in town who can be pretty persuasive. 
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