(light upbeat music) - Utah parents are getting on board with an alternative form of mental wellness built around skateboarding camps.

We're talking about hands-on learning and a supportive high-energy environment that allows children to roll away fearless with confidence and resilience.

Cole Parkinson is in our studio now to tell us more about Carry On.

Welcome, Cole.

- Thank you.

- So tell me about the organization Carry On and the summer camps that you guys provide.

- Yeah, so Carry On has got this unique relationship between mental health and resilience and skateboarding.

So what we've done is we've used the vehicle of skateboarding as this stress exposure activity.

We also give them the education based on the field of sports psychology, and we put them together.

So when they are in the skate park and they're having that moment when they're dropping in and they're feeling what we call the yellow mindset, we're teaching them these concepts.

They can relate to it, they can apply it, and then they can learn from it when they leave our skate park.

- [Liz] The yellow mindset.

Is that like fear or what is that mindset?

- Yeah, so we have what we call the mindsets, and they're red, yellow, and green.

So the yellow is what we oftentimes call the pause mindset.

Meaning we're hesitant, we're worried.

We want to move forward, but we're not sure, right?

So oftentimes, related to stress and anxiety.

Green mindset is simply moving forward.

It's not landing the trick, it's moving forward.

And then the red mindset is moving away from our goal.

It's wanting to quit.

- [Liz] What is it like being out there and seeing kids overcome those obstacles and be more mentally strong to take things on?

What is it like seeing that progression?

- It's incredible.

It's honestly the most rewarding thing.

And for us, our approach to mental health is very preventative.

So we're trying to give kids the tools that they need now in their life so that they don't hit and need crisis intervention.

So even though it looks like skateboarding and skateboarding has this culture around it, when we see them move forward, even when they don't land the trick, I just really wanna emphasize that, then they're able to have that growth in confidence that will really, really help them moving forward.

- Well, thank you so much for sharing this information.

I know it's gonna help a lot of families.

If you would like to learn more about Carry On and how you can participate or sign up, just head to carryon.org for more information.

They have their summer skateboarding camps happening now until August 5th in Provo and South Jordan.

I'm Liz Adeola, and thank you for watching "Contact."

(light upbeat music) Philanthropy, Arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.

If you work for a nonprofit and would like to be on Contact, please visit pbs.org/contact