School District 300 Students Roll with New Artistic Medium in Old Skateboards

ALGONQUIN, IL – A group of students from School District 300’s three high schools ramped up their skills, perspective and inspiration this month working with DeKalb-based artist and skateboarder Ariel Ries. With a grant from the District 300 Foundation for Educational Excellence, advanced art students from Dundee-Crown, Hampshire and Jacobs high schools traveled to Fargo Skateboarding in DeKalb on October 12th and 13th, where they each received a recycled skateboard to transform into one-of-a-kind jewelry.

Ries, an avid skater since middle school who studied metalworking and sculpture alongside her business classes in college, opened the skateboard park in the old Fargo Theatre, originally built 1929. Along with teaching skateboard lessons, building ramps and selling skateboards and gear, she collects broken skateboards for her craft, channeling proceeds from sales of finished pieces to support the skateboarding scene in the Midwest.

Most skateboards are made from seven plies of maple, each dyed a different color and arranged in different ways. Under Ries’ guidance, the students will use a variety of tools, such as drill presses, hole saws and an oscillating sanders, to cut shapes from the wood and sculpt them into wearable rings that expose the multicolored layers of wood.

Hampshire High School art teacher Laura LaRue, who is administering the grant, said getting students out of the classroom and into the environment of working artists is invaluable.

“One hundred percent of our students’ understanding of art making and the design thinking process exists within the construct of the classroom environment,” LaRue said. “In order to truly `see’ themselves as an artist and understand that they, too, are engaging in an experience larger than themselves, it is beneficial to leave the school environment and participate in the world at large. Having a `real world’ experience will give them practical knowledge and a framework for 21st century learning that is applicable beyond their high school years.”

The D300 Foundation’s mission is to enhance and extend learning opportunities in all D300 schools. Since the D300 Foundation was founded in 2002, it has awarded nearly one half million dollars in local education grants – all made possible by private donations and special fundraisers. The group is governed by a volunteer board of trustees made up of parents, business owners and other community members. For information about how you can partner with the D300 Foundation and to view some of the project grants we have funded, please visit our website at: http://www.d300foundation.org.