By Christie Renick, The Imprint, December 31, 2020
“I’ve never seen so many foster kids in one place smiling. What are you doing?” asked Arizona Department of Child Safety Director Mike Faust. He was speaking to Michael Shapiro, skater, former teacher and executive director of the +swappow PLUS Foundation, which uses skateboarding to teach life skills to kids in foster care.
Nearby, a group of youth wearing shiny new helmets balanced with varying levels of certainty on varnished boards during an event last Christmas.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shapiro and his staff had held one-day clinics in locations around the state for roughly 500 youth each year, where they were taught to build, maintain and ride skateboards safely. Participants left the sessions with quality boards and helmets, donated by local board makers, and a new message they may not have heard often enough: that falling isn’t failing.
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