Giving Compass' Take:

• Linda Jacobson reports that researcher Zoë Corwin is working to fight the stigma against skateboarding and link it to academic success to increase college access. 

• How can funders work to create awareness of the benefits of sports and hobbies for education success? 

• Learn about a program using action sports to reach youth


“There are skills that skateboarders believe they have learned through skating that are incredibly applicable to education,” says Corwin, who collected survey responses from 5,000 skateboarders and conducted case studies in seven sites across the country, including the Garage Board Shop. “I want to get this in front of college admissions counselors. The types of skills that skateboarders have are really important for college.”

And with skateboarding making its debut as an Olympic sport at the 2020 games in Tokyo, leaders of programs like Carrera’s say they have an opportunity to change the perception of skateboarders from a public nuisance to that of youth who want to have fun and are trying to master a skill.

“To be sure, there are problematic elements of skateboarding culture — and many skateboarders face challenges while seeking education and employment,” Corwin and co-authors write. “The study’s research design, however, draws from and builds onto the concept of cultural funds of knowledge and consequently highlights the cultural practices and routines that skateboarders incorporate into their lives, inside and outside of skateboarding.”

Survey responses, Corwin says, are pointing to a few attributes she believes can transfer to the classroom.

First, skateboarders work on a trick until they get it, “practicing like 1,000 times,” she says. They’re also good at problem-solving, as well as being creative and self-starting, often creating their own obstacles for tricks. They’re tech savvy, she says, with shooting and editing video now a large part of skateboarding culture.

There is also an “ease with which they communicate across cultural groups. Race doesn’t matter,” Corwin says. “If I’m a college admissions person, those are the kinds of kids that I want.”

Read the full article about skateboarding for education by Linda Jacobson at Education Dive.