Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/2864
campus. The town is now in the process of building a skate park, and the school may compete in a skateboarding league. It was all made possible with Skate Pass, a Skateboarding in gym class Students at Fillmore Middle School can hardly wait for PE to begin. They dress as quickly as possible, grab their skateboards and careen around the gym. Some move hes- itantly while others glide up ramps, hop onto rails or make small jumps in the air. Teachers observe and help out, while students do the real teaching. The students may be at different skill levels, but they all use the same word to describe the class activity: Cool. Last year before the holiday break, PE teach- er Dave MacDonald told his students that they would be skateboarding upon their return. They didn’t believe him. “They thought I was messing with them,” he laughs. They returned from Christmas break to find skateboards in the gym — along with ramps, helmets and knee and elbow pads — that MacDonald helped purchase with one- time state grant money. “They were thrilled beyond thrilled. They were pumped,” says MacDonald, a member of the Fillmore Unified Teachers Association. Fillmore Middle School, until then un- known to the outside world, was suddenly on the map as the first and only school in Cali- fornia to include skateboarding in PE. It has been featured on national television. Skate- board celebrities, including Bulldog, a skate- boarding dog from Ventura, have visited the 12 California Educator | february 2009 Top: Fillmore Middle School PE teacher Dave MacDonald had an idea to engage the students with a sport they’d love. Above: Alyssa Granados (left) glides across the gym. Inset: One of MacDonald’s students gets acrobatic. Colorado-based company that developed the curriculum for schools to teach basic skate- boarding skills in a noncompetitive setting. The goal is for students to have fun and exercise while also improving their balance, coordina- tion and skills. The curriculum goes from beginning to advanced levels and is taught in three-week units at Fillmore Middle School. “I’m the teacher, but kids do the teach- ing,” says MacDonald. “I don’t skate. People find that ironic.” He got the idea from his son and thought to himself, “Why not listen to the kids and let them do what they really want to do?” At first there was concern that students could get injured, but with the required helmets and padding, it’s safer than football. “Skateboarders have frequently gotten a bad rap and are treated like outcasts,” says MacDon- ald. “People assume the worst because of the way they dress with baggy pants and long hair.” But in his class, everybody has fun — even kids who say they don’t like sports. “I was scared to get on a board at first, but now I know it doesn’t matter if I fall,” says eighth-grader Jesus Amezcua. “It’s just so cool that we have this at our school.” For information on starting a skateboard- ing program in your school, visit www. skatepass.com.