News 2012

February 4

I have a couple of demos coming up that mix education and skateboarding in what I have been actively promoting as "Action Science" for a good number of years. In mid-February, I will be in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the CCTCA Conference, where I will do a "Physics of Skateboarding" demo at a local middle school. I will also be doing this as well for a group of educators at UTEP at the end of February. You can check out all that's upcoming here on this site.

January 25

If you haven't been out to the new Sunland Park Skatepark, you are really missing something outstanding. It is a DC Plaza style park with some of the raddest and smoothest concrete terrain around. You need to come and check it out.

January 16

Dr. Skateboard Team Rider and fellow Action Scientist, Dr. Chris Benker, the Skateboarding Professor, has a nice interview online that promotes the values and impacts of Action Science. Nice job Chris!

January 4

I did a couple of episodes on the KCOS TV Show, Blast Beyond! back in December, and the shows are currently online. The shows I did aired on December 19, 21 and 23, and the shows corresponded the Newton's First, Second and Third Law of Motion.

January 1

Happy New Year! Now, let's get to it...

News 2011

November 26

Here is some footage of a couple of the Dr. Skateboard Team riders. Check out Jacob Whitt in "Country Fried Skate" as he rips it up with great style. Also, here is a short film on longboard freestyler, Garrett Morrison in "UpLoaded". Watch out for these guys in 2012!

November 17

I ended up in the paper with a couple of photos and a brief article from my solo demo at Garcia Elementary. You can see the issue right here direct from the West Texas County Courier, Volume 38, Number 46.

November 11

As part of the Ravens Club at Gonzalo & Sofia Garcia Elementary, I visited the school to do a Dr. Skateboard solo show on the "Physics of Skateboarding" to reward students who completed academic and personal goals in school.

November 3

Did a show with the Dr. Skateboard Team consisting of Jacob Whitt and Garrett Morrison for the Science & Math Night at Guerrero Elementary. A great show and a great crowd.

October 27

Here is a cool story on the GEAR UP program, which posted a picture of me with the story, as Action Science has been and will continue to be a big part of the GEAR UP efforts in El Paso.

October 8

Here is a link to the complete show I did on Blast Beyond! that was on the theme of "Simple Machines".

Blast Beyond! - Motion with Dr. Skateboard

You can catch all the episodes online on the KCOS Web site - Local Programs listings for Blast Beyond!

October 7

Here is a link to the complete show I did on Blast Beyond! that was on the theme of "Motion".

Blast Beyond! - Motion with Dr. Skateboard

October 6

Here is a link to the complete show I did on Blast Beyond! that was on the theme of "Counting" and if you watch it a ways, you will see me do about 15 360s in the studio.

Blast Beyond - Counting with Dr. Skateboard

September 16

The week of shows on Blast Beyond! came and went, and I was the first (and only) guest on the show this week. The show airs on weekdays, Monday through Friday, from 5-5:30 PM on KCOS.

Here's a link to an article on the show that appeared on the News @ UTEP.

September 12

Congratulations to Dr. Skateboard Team rider, Jacob Whitt, who placed Fourth in the Sponsored Amateur category at the US Freestyle Championships in Philadelphia last weekend. Way to go Jacob!

September 8

I finished two days of filming for Blast Beyond! and it was quite fun. The host, Captain Rob (Robert Bettes - Weatherman for Channel Four News) is great to work with, and the Blast Beyond Band is a lot of fun too. I did one day (3 shows) as Science Educator, Dr. Bill Robertson and 1 day (3 shows) as Dr. Skateboard.

August 24

I just did a rehearsal for a new kids "live" television show that will be shot on KCOS TV in El Paso. The show is called "Blast Beyond!" and will feature a space theme, a live band, a live audience of local K-3 students, and local educational guests, inluding Dr. Skateboard.

August 15

Check out the great photo of my neice, Avery Nicole Ellis, and three of the skate crew in Alamos, Mexico. These guys all rip and I can't wait to get back there to session again. "Andan bueno con la patineta, amigos!"

Alamos Skaters - Patinadores Mexicanos

August 12

I checked out some footage from the Master's division at the Philly Freestyle Contest from 2010, where I placed second. Here is a link to a nice piece on the entire Master's group, check out 4:39 to 6:15 for my part. Go Retro and ABEC 11!

July 25

I made it back to the land of my origin, Virginia, the state on the right coast, and was able to spend some reflective time in the surf of Virginia Beah, home to my first sponsor, the 17th Street Surf Shop, circa 1976.

July 15

Checked out the new Sunland Park (NM) Skate Plaza and all I can say is "incredible"! It has something for everyone, especially skaters who like big stair sets and rails. It also has a cool tight half pipe, ditch style, as well as smooth concrete for flatland styling. A must visit destination for anyone heading to the El Paso area.

July 2

We rolled up to Holloman Air Force Base for a couple of demos as part of their 1 July Celebration for the troups and their families. It was a coming together of the Dr. Skateboard crew (me and Benker) and the Stuntmasters crew of Billy Gawrych, Nick Happel and Tom Stober. We threw down big shows with the jump box set up and got some good footage too from Billy's bro Justin. Watch for it upcoming on ID Clothing. net.

June 30

I did a demo at the Silva Magnet School's DREAM Academy with another Dr. of the Skateboard, Chris Benker, who got his Ph. D. in Geology at UTEP. We had a great time interacting with about 150 future health professionals, although most are still in grades 6-8, but I am sure they will be the next doctors for our future!

June 24

This just in from the Action Science demo team out of the Northeast! Chris Benker, Terry Synnott, Math Gokie and others threw down at a local middle school in Newberry Mass. for the children. Way to go Chris and crew, the Action Science network is expanding! Check out the demo shots.

June 22

I got a note from Ray Jackson, who does outstanding video work in El Paso, Texas, and you shoudl be sure and bookmark his site. I was checking out his demo reel, which features fires, nuclear contamination, floods, other disasters, and of yeah, a handstand fingerflip from Dr. Skateboard. Check it out.

June 21

Happy Go Skateboarding Day! Now, go out there and shred!

June 10

Here is a nice video done by Jacob Whitt, which does a great job of showing highlights from the Action Science Demos done last month at local El Paso High Schools. The title of the video is "3 Skateboard Demos in 3 Days", although we did have some quality BMX riders (who ruled)!

June 6

Looks like I will be doing a demo with the Stuntmasters out of Arizona on July 1 at Holloman Air Force Base as part of their Fourth of July Celebrations. It is always good to celebrate with the armed forces on Independence Day!

May 24

Here is a nice story from the News @ UTEP entitled "Action Sports used to Teach STEM to Students" which describes the work we did last week. It also has some nice quotes from teachers, students and Juliette Caire, the Director of the UTEP GEAR UP Program who had the foresight to bring this effort to light.

May 21

I posted some photos from the demos at Hanks High School and Bel Air High School, most of which were done by Josh Garcia. Ththe effort we did was called "Skatepark Mathematics" and we did a show at each of 3 high schools, followed by a series of hands-on activities in which students made measurements of the athletes using the ramps to calculate acceleration, velocity and angular rotations.

May 19

I did three demos over the last three days at Hanks HS (5/17), Parkland HS (5/18) and Bel Air HS (5/19) in El Paso, Texas. We had a ripping team that features the Arizona Stuntmasters BMX pros John Parker, Tom Stober and Billy Gawrych, along with Dr. Skateboard riders Chris Benker and Jacob Whitt. The crew from Crooks joined us each day as well as we threw down for over 1500 students over the three days. Here is an article from KTSM, Newschannel Nine, who also did a short news story on our show at Bel Air as well.

May 5

I did a demo with Jacob Whitt and Chris Bobino for the students at La Fe Preparatory School in downtown El Paso. We had about 150 students and faculty too, a great time at Armijo Skatepark in the historic Segundo Barrio area of El Paso.

April 17

We will be having the 2011 El Paso Skatepark Association Deck Art show on Thursday, May 12 from 6-10 PM at the Lowbrow Bar in UTEP Cincinnati area. You can check out the details on the EPSA Deck Art page as well as on the EPSA Facebook page.

April 15

I had a nice demo for the fifth and sixth graders at Del Norte Elementary School in YISD. The students were exceptionally well behaved and had fun too, and thanks to Amber Calvin for setting it all up.

April 14

I had a fun day with my MSED 4311 class, working on Action Science activities and we actually ended up on the news on KFOX at 6 PM and 9 PM. We also had two great visitors from Melbourne Australia, Jo and Julie, who were visiting UTEP and came out to Alderete MS in Canutillo to see the class.

April 1

I did a demo last week on March 23rd at Presa Elementary in the YISD in El Paso, where a former student of mine, Joel Enriquez, is the school science teaching specialist. We had 150 or so students in fourth and fifth grades as well as an enthusiastic staff and faculty. I even ended up on the front page of the YISD Web site, but if it has moved, the story and photo can be seen on this link.

March 14

I posted a new video, the first in a series of new approaches for education which I am calling Action Science: Relevant STEM Education. This first one is an overview from a performance done at UTEP in the Don Haskins Center and features great performances from the Action Science BMX and Skateboard team, as well as the UTEP Go Team. Check it out.

March 6

I did a featured presentation yesterday at the Kaleidoscope of Teaching Math & Science Conference held at ADP in El Paso, Texas. I did a scholarly presentation on Action Science: Relevant STEM Education to the full group followed by a live demo outside. It was a lot of fun and I was able to interact with a number of colleagues as well as attend a number of great presentations by teachers and graduate students.

February 21

I have been called a lot of things in my day, but never have I been called a dork and held it in such high esteem. I have been chosen as the first honorary dork from the folks at dorklife.com. The definition of a dork from the site is dorks are people who combine two or more stereo types in a positive way, and generally speaking, think outside the box. As their founder, Alex Coggins, stated, "One reason to bestow this honor on you first is that you promote skateboarding and education, as proven by Dr. Skateboard’s Action Science, a concept clearly out of the box." I'm stoked to be a dork!

February 19

A big day for the EPSA as we teamed up with UTEP's Project MOVE to clean up and refurbish both the West side skatepark and the Carolina Skatepark. There are good photos on the EPSA FB site, and we had great representation from all contributing, EPSA Board members, UTEP student volunteers and Crooks skaters. Right on!

February 18

I did a demo for about 100 fifth grade students , teachers and staff at South Loop Elementary School in El Paso, Texas. The students were incredibly knowledgeable in science, and I was quite impressed with their efforts. I hope to see them at UTEP in the near future!

February 3

We are putting up new bios on the information area of the EPSA Web site, as we move forward with a new board of directors. Here is a link to my bio on EPSA. I am still serving on the board, as I have since 2007, and Paul Zimmerman (Z-Man) is still the president. It is great to have Jaime, George and Mikey B on board with the board.

February 2

We are experiencing a bit of a cold freeze out in El Paso, with temporary black outs on electricity. Hopefully, this will pass and the temperatures will begin to rise for us all. At least we are spared the levels of snow they are having in the Midwest.

January 22

Had a great session at the local skatespot Falcore, courtesy of Phil Sullivan, who has made a real wooden skatepark in his yard. It was a fun session and we also have a lot of new information from the El Paso Skatepark Association.

New demos are getting posted for the sping, check out the new dates.

January 1

Happy New Year to Everyone, and I hope 2011 is a blessed year for you all. Keep skating hard!

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