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Snowboarding has changed the way Forest Hills Public Schools looks at education.
The program Gone Boarding started as a pipe dream for Forest Hills Eastern High School teachers Bill Curtis and Bruce Macartney. The pair teach physical education and industrial arts, respectively, and needed a way to keep students interested in electives.
Following a survey of students, the teachers found board sports were growing in popularity. Curtis is a fan of action sports and liked the idea of keeping the students active, and Macartney wanted to expand the design-and-build process in his industrial arts classes beyond the standard pencil boxes and birdhouses.
"We dreamed this whole thing up," said Curtis, who's 37 and in his 12th year of teaching. "From the get-go, the administration was totally supportive, and that's unique."
Instead of facing an administration that questioned the validity of bringing board sports into the classroom or that said the funds weren't there for it, administrators told the teachers to focus on developing the class and they'd take care of any roadblocks.
Forest Hills Eastern Principal Steve Harvey said the two teachers were coming up with all the reasons they might not be able do it. He said, "Let me worry about those."
"We try to be supportive of teachers thinking outside of the box, not only at the school level but the district level," Harvey said. "Sometimes we can be; other times, because of restrictions, we can't be. We try to improve student engagement and learning."
Curtis said following the initial meetings with the administration, it was time to innovate and dream. Now, it's turned into something beyond what he ever imagined it could be.
Gone Boarding started as a joint physical education and industrial arts class that kept students occupied during a two-hour block - now held...