Students participate in snowboarding program

Students from Mt. Scott High School are participating again this year in “Learn to Ride,” the nationally recognized snowboarding program sponsored by the Snowboard Outreach Society (SOS).  The nationwide program is conducted locally over five weekends at Timberline Lodge ski area.

SOS provides high quality recreation programs to youth who benefit from the structure and consistency of the SOS curriculum. The primary aim of SOS is to reach out to at-risk and underprivileged youth through high quality, local, and national resilience-based snowboarding programs. Through these opportunities, and the adult mentor relationships that are central to the programs, SOS youth participants build strong morals, self-esteem and interpersonal skills.

The Learn to Ride program is an outdoor mountain adventure experience designed for youth with risk factors in their lives. In concert with learning how to snowboard, the SOS Learn to Ride curriculum promotes a positive self-image and teaches social competencies and positive values.  The SOS core values include Courage, Discipline, Integrity, Wisdom, and Compassion.

Learn to Ride participants are provided with five days of professional snowboard instruction, equipment rental, lift tickets and clothing. Utilizing the fast learning curve and "cool factor" of snowboarding, students are able to overcome fears, reach new goals and discover new possibilities in a relatively short time frame.

Malee Lucas, SOS National Program Coordinator for Oregon Programs, noted that this year’s participating group of 15 Mt. Scott students (and three staff) made a positive impression during the program’s opening weekend.