During last year’s summer vacation, Yvonne Thomas got teenagers and young kids of Vinalhaven together to get ideas and opinions on how they would want to improve their community. One idea that was brought to the attention of the 8th grade Aspirations class was a skatepark. As a class, we never dreamed this skate park could become a reality. Public speaking, class co-operation, and individual responsibilities were all obstacles we had to face. Through time and hard work we have learned to overcome the obstacles that stand in our way.
Biking, roller blading and skate boarding require an extreme amount of skill. Several skaters on Vinalhaven have two or three years of experience; without a skate park we cannot progress to the next level. Where supervised skate parks have been, the drug and crime rate has decreased. It cannot be proven the skate park caused the decrease, but it is a logical guess.
Vinalhaven needs a skate park for the same reason most islands need a skate park; we have nothing to do! Vinalhaven has no Dunkin’ Donuts, YMCA, McDonald’s or any other type of recreation facility. Kids are tired of having nothing to do.
This skate park project has forced us to mature a lot emotionally and mentally. A year ago, if you asked us to do this, we would have never dreamed this project would work.
The class sent out surveys to the parents, teachers, students and other community members. The results shocked us. Our results said that 33 percent of students in grades 6-12 skateboard, as do 38 percent or students in grades 3-5. Eighty-seven percent of middle and high school students believe Vinalhaven needs a skate park. An overwhelming 98 percent of all elementary students support the idea of a skate park on Vinalhaven.
Asked “Does Vinalhaven need a skate park?” one student responded “Yes, because there is nothing at all for us teens and kids to do. And parents wonder why kids are out doing drugs.” A second student answered “Yes, to keep kids off the streets and stop them from getting into trouble for skating on sidewalks.” One parent responded to the same question, “If the skate park can increase health, fitness, fun, and socializing without smoking or alcohol, I’m all for it.”
In September, the Knox County Sheriff’s Department gave us a donation of $5,000 for Youth Drug and Alcohol Prevention. After getting the support from the Sheriff’s Department, the class was encouraged to pursue the idea of a skate park. The next step was seeing how much the youth and citizens of Vinalhaven wanted it. In November the 8th grade organized and ran a town meeting to share and gather information with citizens. We took this information and continued our research and planning. In January, the class went on a trip to visit skate parks and recreation centers to gather first-hand information. We visited skate parks in Camden, Brunswick, Northport and Carrabasset Valley. We attended property committee meetings asking for possible locations for the skate park. Eventually the committee recommended Coot’s corner to us as the number one spot for the skate park. After picking the piece of land we did a presentation to the board of selectmen who did give us permission to use the desired property. In the spring we went to Rockland to do a presentation at the Island Institute for Knox County Sheriff’s Department, MBNA and Island Institute. Along with us came two skateboarders from Vinalhaven: Riley, a senior at VHS, and Brian Smith, a junior, for support of the skate park.
Now we plan to invite skateboard design companies to Vinalhaven to recommend size and design. From the companies we will also ask for cost estimates. We will plan for future maintenance costs, design an appropriate budget, write grants and gather the necessary funds. Then begin construction can begin.
With the support of the community, we will be able to complete the skate park project by this summer. We would like to thank our teacher, Michael Felton, for keeping us on task. Without him this project would have failed.