High school can be hard. Here’s how one teacher helps her students skate through it

Judy Woodruff:

The pandemic have been difficult for all of us, but particularly for students, who have experienced major disruptions to both their education and their social lives.

In a special program, our Student Reporting Labs team explores how young people are dealing with this new normal.

Here's a slice of their reporting, a look at one teacher taking an unconventional approach to learning.

Skateboarder:

Go do some tricks.

Kendall Vanvalkenburg, Teacher, Red Canyon High School:

During the pandemic, I noticed that a lot of students were skateboarding. I can see the skate park from my house. So, when I see kids interested in something, I'm going to figure out a way to brick that into the classroom.

Narrator:

Ms. V. is a teacher at Red Canyon High School in Gypsum, Colorado, trying to solve a problem that students know all too well.

Kendall Vanvalkenburg:

There is something missing in the education system. Kids find themselves not wanting to go to school and at the skate park.

Why can't we take that something else that makes school a part of it?

Narrator:

While the class may just look like students fooling around at the skate park, they're actually learning about urban planning, design and how to build a stronger community.

Kendall Vanvalkenburg:

We talked about barriers that stand in the way of kids being able to skate. And then we came up with solutions to those barriers to make skateboarding more accessible to all kids in our community.

Claire Evans, Student:

Mostly, what we're doing right now is trying to get a skate park in Avon to make things a little more accessible to kids there and also help reduce the crowding.

We are working on getting funding from Tony Hawk Foundation to revamp this place that we're standing at right here. And we — my group specifically has been working on a design that we think could be really cool.

David Carrillo, Student:

I'm actually, like, doing work for my community. And it's not really like just a class anymore. I'm part of something bigger than just this class.

Narrator:

With each new trick, students understand more about themselves, as well as how to connect, how to teach, and how to learn from one another.

Kendall Vanvalkenburg:

It's hard. If you're learning to do from the most basic skill to a really difficult skill, it takes a lot of resilience to get back up and try again.

Claire Evans:

It's one of those things where, if you could put your mind to something and just kind of get into it, you can really prove to yourself that you can do whatever you want.

Calvin Parrish, Student:

I always thought it was like super cool. And I thought the skaters were super cool. So it just — it makes me feel good. And I like learning new things.

Claire Evans:

School can be stressful for kids these days. And I think it's really important that we have these days to be able to just be able to relax, because it's not like we get recess anymore. We don't get to go play with our friends and use our imaginations.

If we get rid of that creativity, by the time we're adults, we're not going to be doing anything useful with the world. We're not going to be able to solve these world problems because we're all looking at the straight — what's ahead of us, just not taking time think about things that are outside the box.

Jorge Jimenez-Velazco, Student:

It helps a lot with conquering your fears, because it's scary to do some things. And when you finally own up to it, it is relieving.

I recently learned how to drop in. It's really scary, but I did it.

Narrator:

And while Ms. V is teaching her students how to face their fears, at the same time, she had to do it herself.

Kendall Vanvalkenburg:

I learned how to drop in. And I was scared, because you fall. And I'm looking at a student who is a language learner who I have watched take so many risks in the classroom, and I have watched sit there and struggle when he was younger.

And I have, like, forced him to read and write and grow. He's got the drop in. He totally can do it. And he's cheering me on. And so, of course, I'm going to take that risk.

Judy Woodruff:

What a great teacher. And this program is exceptional.

You can watch Student Reporting Labs' full program, "Our New Normal," tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. And that's on our YouTube channel.