Make & Skate: IYRS Launches Skateboarding Workshops

This Summer, IYRS held a very exciting new workshop: Make & Skate: Build, Ride & Thrive! This workshop, specifically for children ages 9-12, was developed by Composites Program Assistant Cass D’Amico CT ’21 & DMF ‘23 in conjunction with Composites Program Manager Jason Feld and Facilities Manager Nate Farrar.

As soon as I learned about this workshop, I was completely enthralled, as it opened up our Composites program to a new community demographic, it provided the opportunity for local children to engage in something new and exciting, and it allowed IYRS to form a union with another small local non-profit: The Friends of the Newport Skatepark, or FONS. It also brought us veteran pro skater Donny Barley, who would be teaching the children how to skate on their newly-made boards.

The workshop was split into two sessions: one at the end of July, and one at the beginning of August. The first three days of each week-long workshop had the children in the Composites shop, making their own skateboards while learning about Composites materials. Donny, who was intended to only participate in the skating portion, was right there with all of them in the whole time. He even gave
the children a lesson on the history of skateboarding, and he and Cass helped the children design their decks. Each child developed their designs with their own vision and creativity, and Donny and Cass then made their visions come to life in grip tape. The final products were fantastic!

The skating portion of the workshops was held at the Jamestown Skatepark. It was a very small space, perfect for this purpose. This was truly the icing on the cake for everyone, as it was such a thrill to watch the children skate on the boards they had made, and overcome fear, intimidation, and complicated physical tasks to do what they were so incredibly determined to do. The children were absolutely amazing, and I know I speak for Cass and Jason when I say that we were truly in awe of every single one of them. And Donny was incredible with them! He taught them so many things, and he taught with patience and kindness, and made sure every child left at the end of each day filled with confidence and joy. It was clear throughout each week that the children looked up to Donny, and he truly had an immense impact on them.

Very special thanks to Donny Barley for being such a huge part of this journey! And thanks to Donny, Jason, and Cass for letting me tag along so that I could document the awesome skate days. We are all excited to do it again next year, but next time the skating will be at the Newport Skatepark! We can’t wait to see our new skate buddies there, showing off everything they learned from Donny.