California Educator

December 2022 January 2023

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" T H I S C L U B is very special because we're giving students the opportunity to join together with their peers to take advantage of our coastline's resources," says Jeff Smallwood, elementary educator and founder of the Salinas Surf Club. "Furthermore, it instills in their minds that they belong anywhere a wave can be found." Created in 2017, the Salinas Surf Club gives students an introduction to ocean culture and expands their horizons far beyond the farmlands and fields of the Salinas Valley. Smallwood, a second-grade structured English teacher at Los Padres Elementary School in East Salinas, came up with the idea with a friend who was a California state lifeguard. The Monterey-area native had been a boogie boarder and surfer since a young age and was eager to share his love of surfing with students from his school community. Seeded with a $500 regional equity grant from CTA, Small- wood was able to rent wetsuits and make snacks to eat on the beach. at group in 2017 consisted of three instructors and four students. In 2020, the club got a $3,000 grant from Community Foundation of Monterey County and this September, the Salinas Surf Club took more than two dozen students and volunteers each to surf at Carmel Beach. "Kids were catching waves right away," says Smallwood, a member of Salinas Elementary Teachers Council (SETC). "It's so much fun to see those kids ride waves. Teaching kids to surf is almost better than surfing." Smallwood said it took a little time for students and their parents to warm up to the idea of a surf club in Salinas – most club participants are from low socioeconomic backgrounds, are learning English and do not know how to swim. Smallwood enlisted the help of fellow Los Padres teachers originally from Mexico, who enrolled their children in the club to show that the activity was safe. ough Salinas is only 10 miles away from the Pacific Ocean, many students and their families had never taken the 25-minute drive to walk on the beach and dip their toes in the water. "e Salinas Surf Club provides students with an opportunity to be part of a sport that is not very common in their com- munity," says Roberto Zamora, a sixth-grade dual immersion teacher at Los Padres and SETC member, who is from Micho- acán, Mexico. "Students benefit from this club because Latino students are less likely to participate in school athletics. More- over, it teaches students to be disciplined, to develop leadership skills, goal setting and risk taking. The club is crucial to our students because it bridges a gap with the Latino community." With enough adults in the water with lifeguard training Educator-founded Salinas Surf Club introduces students to the ocean, life experiences By Julian Peeples The Salinas Surf Club shreds waves in the Monterey area six times a school year, instilling in students' minds that they belong anywhere a wave can be found. Lessons in the Waves 16 cta.org Spotlight

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