Berkeley Skatepark Observation Report

“Engaging in community service provides students with the opportunity to become active members of their community and has a lasting, positive impact on society at large.” I chose to do community service as my way of practicing democracy in my society. For years, I have been spending a lot of time at the Berkeley Skatepark located right next to the Gabe Catalfo Soccer Fields. Berkeley Skatepark is where I grew up and where I developed many of my skateboarding skills. Thanks to Berkeley Skatepark staying open until 9:30PM, I always had somewhere to go whenever I wanted to skate at night. I know many of the workers and counselors/mentors that work with kids at the skatepark, but I had never thought of becoming on of them. For my act of community

I was able to monitor the skatepark and make sure that there weren’t any sketchy business going on. Starting at the end of March and continuing throughout the entire month of April, Berkeley Skatepark will be closed for renovations. The skatepark monitors are still required to come to work and make sure that no one is hopping the fence and skating the park. Spending all day at a closed and empty skatepark is not fun, so I took the liberty of rounding up some of the local kids and traveling to other local skateparks, such as Emeryville, Mont Clair and Oakland. I was responsible for the kids that came with me for the day and would be held accountable if anything happened to any of them, thankfully nothing bad happened. During these days, I was teaching many of them the fundamentals of skateboarding: the proper way to fall to prevent injuries, skatepark etiquette, etc… Overall, we all had a great time. Service is pivotal to building a democratic community. In class, we have learned that democracy means rule by the people. How can the people rule their community if they aren't involved in their community? By participating in community service, you are directly giving back to your community. Participating in community service isn't only beneficial to the organization and people being served, but is also beneficial to the people serving. According to the ICCE’s