And the skate camp all started as a business plan for a class Porte was taking at Cal State Northridge. As a Glendale city employee, Porte was encouraged by his professor to introduce the concept of a traveling skate camp to his supervisors. They jumped on the idea and helped him come up with a price for the camp for that first year, which, Porte feels, was too high, even though the one-week camp filled up.
In 2006, the second year of the camp, the price was lowered, and kids came in droves once again to sign up. The camp was now two weeks long.
In summer 2007 and 2008 the camp was three weeks long. This summer, another week was added, but it did not fill up, so the camp was again three weeks. And the camp always fills up, Porte said.
“On Mondays and Fridays we go to different skate parks,” Porte said, the sound of kids doing their moves in the background. “Yesterday we went to Long Beach Skate Park and El Segundo Skate Park.”
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the kids skate at Verdugo Skate Park, across the street from Glendale Community College, and are treated to recreational activities, where they watch videos, have water balloon fights and do skateboard stenciling.
On Wednesdays, the kids take a break from skating and visit places like Raging Waters and Magic Mountain.
“The cool part about it, too, is that a lot of these kids, some of them know each other, but a lot of them don’t know each other,” Porte said. “They get put into a camp where they don’t know the other kids, so they’re meeting new kids, making new friends. I think that’s the really good part of it.”
It’s also fun to watch kids trying to outdo each other’s tricks — a “huge part of skateboarding,” Porte said.
