{"id":34387,"date":"2010-08-27T14:00:42","date_gmt":"2010-08-27T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/home.bates.edu\/?p=34387"},"modified":"2018-06-04T09:22:44","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T13:22:44","slug":"the-valpo-surf-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2010\/08\/27\/the-valpo-surf-project\/","title":{"rendered":"The Valpo Surf Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2022 Click the thumbnails below to view the slide show<\/strong>\t\n\t

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Jocelyn develops her surfing \"steeze\" (style and ease) during a surfing session with the Valpo Surf Project, an after-school educational program for children in Valpara\u2019so, Chile, developed by Jon Steuber '08, Henry Myer '08 and Wiley Todd '08. Photograph by Jon Steuber '08.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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Valpo Surf Project students Cintia and Valeria have fun with Wiley Todd '08 in the surf.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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Roberto gets ready to pop to his feet in a wave.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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Vicky raises her hand to answer a question during a class session for the Valpo Surf Project.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t

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In Valparaiso, Chile, Jon Steuber \u201908, Henry Myer \u201908 and Wiley Todd \u201908 teach surfing \u2014 and much more \u2014 to local children<\/h3>\n

Photographs by Jon Steuber ’08<\/em><\/p>\n

If your notion of surf culture begins and ends with Jeff Spicoli, the cosmically disenfranchised surfer dude from Fast Times at Ridgemont High<\/em>, then catch what Jon Steuber \u201908, Henry Myer \u201908, and Wiley Todd \u201908 accomplished last winter and spring with their Valpo Surf Project<\/a>, an after-school educational program for children in Valpara\u00edso, Chile.<\/p>\n

\"valpo-a3b3dd24a8o-c\"<\/a>The Bates friends, joined by local resident Andres Ponce Morales and others, taught swimming and surfing to about a dozen Chilean girls and boys. And, during required classroom sessions, they also taught the youngsters about the local marine environment and tutored them in speaking English.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used surfing as a tool to teach self-determination and personal development,\u201d Myer says.<\/p>\n

Steuber, Myer, and Todd founded the Valpo Surf Project after learning something about Valpara\u00edso during Bates study-abroad programs or, in Myer\u2019s case, from his post-graduation move to the seaside city. The alums saw barriers that kept poor children from experiencing the ocean. With surfing, the barrier was expensive boards and wetsuits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese children see the ocean every day but many never have the opportunity to experience it,\u201d says Myer.<\/p>\n

More than just surfing instruction, the Valpo Surf Project seeks to connect children to their local environment, and weekly beach cleanups were part of the routine.<\/p>\n

The Valpo Surf Project is highly unusual, if not unique, Myer says. \u201cThe community\u2019s response was a mixed bag of fascination, gratitude, and skepticism,\u201d says Myer, who will return in September to continue the program. \u201cIt\u2019s an evolving dynamic.\u201d \u2014 HJB<\/em><\/p>\n


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\u2022 Click the thumbnails below to view the slide show In Valparaiso,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[7,220,223,234],"tags":[10856,10433,10752],"class_list":["post-34387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-service","category-slideshow","category-teaching-education","tag-bates-magazine","tag-slideshow-2","tag-south-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34387"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87675,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34387\/revisions\/87675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}