By Coach Mahoney

The Snowboarding program Patterson attended this year is called Chill. We received this wonderful grant and opportunity again. The mission of Chill is to inspire youth to overcome challenges through board sports. Chill does this by organizing and running snowboard, skateboard, surfing, and stand up paddleboarding programs, pairing the fun, challenge, and experience of learning to ride a board with core values that cross over into everyday life. Each week students learn a new theme and practice with a Liberty Ski Instructor. The program lasts for six Tuesday evenings.

Revolving around a core value-driven curriculum, Chill programs consist of experiential learning activities, reflection, and discussion, paired with board sport lessons. Chill’s six core values (Respect, Courage, Patience, Persistence, Responsibility, and Pride) provide youth with a foundation and framework for learning and growth, supported and enhanced through progression in board sports skills and adult mentorship. Chill strives to remove barriers to accessing board sports by providing youth with everything they need to get after it, at absolutely no cost. New skills gained through board sport progression and core-value exploration are then directly applied to everyday life, challenging youth to step out of their comfort zone – both on and off their boards.

Ride, Inspire, and Lead has been the cornerstone of Chill’s positive youth development programs since inception in 1995. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of sliding on a board in the snow, sharing stories and excitement with friends on the lift, and succeeding at your first turns. Even more importantly, there’s nothing quite like the moment when you realize you’re capable of a lot more than you imagined, and that’s why snowboarding is so perfectly aligned to aid in self-empowerment and growth.