Dive Brief:

• Partnerships between schools and skateboarding nonprofits, acknowledging the diversity among the skateboarding community, and linking skateboarders to internships and opportunities to use the skills they’ve developed through the sport are among recommendations researchers at the University of Southern California offer in a new report.
• Based on case studies in seven U.S. locations, as well as a survey of over 5,700 respondents — including a large proportion of middle and high school students — the study, supported by the Tony Hawk Foundation, says being able to “stick with a challenge,” “think outside the box” and “solve tricky problems” are among the 21st century skills skateboarders believe they have gained.
• Skateboarding also fosters communication, social-emotional and navigational skills, write the authors, led by Zoë B. Corwin, whose research usually focuses on college access. They recommend educators take an “assets-based approach” in helping skateboarders find paid internships and link their skills to education and job opportunities.

“In some instances, skaters had to be strategic when bringing skateboards to school; in others, skating was supported by school personnel,” they write. “Skaters knew which teachers would not mind if they stored their boards in their classrooms, and which teachers would hassle