Sacramento Pipeworks has supported “Options For Youth” – a community group giving kids a second chance at education – for many years now. We appreciate their values and the work they do – and are proud to host them periodically at Sacramento Pipeworks.
From its inception, OFY’s mission has been to recover students who have dropped out of traditional schools or have fallen behind in credits and are at risk of failing. This highly successful program has established a track record of achievement in strengthening student performance. OFY student test scores and graduation rates consistently rank equal to, or above, those of comparable schools.
Here’s what an OFY lead teacher had to say about the effect climbing has had on his kids.
Our students had an awesome time last Friday! All of the students were very excited after the climbing and had a really good time. Several of the students had a great deal of anxiety prior to the event either from a fear of heights or fear of ridicule and they all overcame their fears. Every single student made it up at least one climb and several made it up challenging climbs. One student who almost did not participate in the Outdoor Experience program because of climbing, he is a big kid who is scared of heights and ridicule, and he couldn’t hold back the smirk at the end of the day. He was clearly very proud of himself!
The entire North Highlands Center was polled on the way home and asked to rate the day from a 5.1 to a 5.10 and two students rated it a 5.9, two a 5.10. Here is some of the feedback we heard:
“Climbing is cool because it forces me to get over one of my biggest fear…heights. I like to challenge myself and I feel safe doing it there.” – Gabe
“This is one of the first activities like this that I have been good at. I never thought I would get up some of these but I did it. I climbed a 5.10b and most of the boys can’t do that. It is fun.” – Cheyenne
“I like that we don’t have to drive all the way to Tahoe to experience something new. It is just as cool as anything we have done in Tahoe and it is right here. I never knew you could do things like this.” – Miranda.
One of our Carmichael students who is a very shy kid and afraid of heights did not want to climb at all. I brought him over to the bouldering section and after he saw me and a few other students give it a shot he decided to jump in. He was a natural. He flew up the first 4 routes he tried and by the end of the day was challenging other students to new routes. I asked him if he had fun once we got back to the gym and he said, “That was awesome! I think I am going to be really sore though…”
The students really love the climbing! The kids are always so positive about the climbing and are really starting to get excited about their progress. We greatly appreciate your willingness to have our students climb there and hope we can continue doing so next year.
Thanks again for supporting our program!
Brad Astin
Lead Teacher
Options For Youth
