Each year, students interested in pursuing a project to engage with and support their community can apply for mini-grants from the CCE. Financed by the William P. Dean Memorial Fund, any student-led initiative which works with a community nonprofit partner to address a social need is eligible. Here, we take a closer look at one of those projects.
CC members repping their Girls Skate Club spirit.
Jane Hatfield, a first year student, started Girls Skate Club upon her arrival at CC. Recognizing her own passions overlapping with a widely held desire from women across campus to learn the practice, she quickly sprung into action, inventing an environment where she could use her own experience to benefit others.
“As a predominantly male sport, the mission of Girl’s Skate Club is to encourage and create a safe space in which young girls can learn and practice skateboarding,” Jane explained in her application. “Through this, we hope to reject traditional stereotypes of femininity by showing young girls it’s okay to be confident, outspoken, and passionately dedicated to something as simple as a skateboard trick.”
Girls at the YMCA get creative with the club’s board painting event.
After seeing the success of the club on-campus, Jane decided to expand her sphere of influence and use her privilege as a CC student to help out children in the community. Connecting with the YMCA after school program, the Girls Skate Club now also aims to help out younger girls who have the same interest. Hosting events for the members such as spray-painting skateboards and writing cards to their role models, the positive impact which this club has had on the community is already beginning to show.
Given that the YMCA relies solely on donations, Jane plans to use her funding to take some of the financial burden off by supplying boards, helmets and knee-pads for the program. There are now 50 members of CC Girls Skate Club and around 20 girls participating in the YMCA after school program.
One member shows off her new skills in the local skate park.
“Skateboarding as an exercise, meditation, sport, and art form has given me so much,” shared Hatfield. “All of the members of Girl’s Skate hope to share our stoke for skateboarding with younger girls so that they can have the same opportunity to access such an amazing hobby.”
Interested in getting involved? Girls Skate Club meets up every Tuesday evening to skate and give skateboard lessons twice a block on Wednesdays or Thursdays from 4-6.
Written by Susie Dummit
