Wow. This sure sounds like a terrific experience. is there anything similar for other sports?
Flickr Tags: NPR,High School,Skiing,Vail
from the All Things Considered Series: Innovative Trends in High School
Vail High School Teaches on the Slopes
Listen Now [6 min 0 sec]
All Things Considered, December 13, 2007 · One of the toughest challenges faced by many high schools is keeping top athletes interested in academics.
But in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, a new school has developed a way to teach and train promising young ski racers. Students at the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy (VSSA) spend half of their day on the mountain and the other half in the classroom.
VSSA may be the first public ski academy in the country.
Plans to Go Pro
At 8 a.m., students up and down the Vail Valley in Colorado are entering the doors of the local high school.
But not freshman Abby Ghent. She is standing on the snow at Vail Ski Resort and using a heavy, metal wrench to screw a racing gate into the snow. The gates — the bright poles that skiers race around at the Winter Olympics — have to be screwed in tight so they don’t rip out when the girls come racing down the mountain.
If they want to attend the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy, these girls have to be willing to do dirty work like this, carry a lot of gear and stay ahead in school.
“You have to be really on top of it. Like, know all your classes, know where you’re standing, keep track of all your homework and stuff,” Abby said.
Abby, like most girls at the school, wants to go pro.
It takes a lot of chutzpah to dream of being a pro skier. The competition is fierce, and the road to the top is often measured in hundredths of seconds.
And first, these students have to graduate from high school.
This school, which enrolls students in grades 8 through 12, leverages students’ powerful desire to keep skiing: If their grades drop too low, athletes can’t race.
Even though VSSA is a free public school, parents must pay the Ski and Snowboard Club Vail for ski training.
Brett Donaldson, a Ski and Snowboard Club Vail coach, says that skiing while in school remains a struggle. Skiers can’t train at night. What’s more, their schedule is often upset by bad weather and equipment problems.
“As opposed to, let’s say, a basketball team. They go to the gym, and it’s the same every day,” Donaldson said. “Ours is drastically different every single day.”
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