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

service, I decided to volunteer as a skatepark monitor and as an instructor for skate lessons.
The guys who monitor the skatepark are the superheroes without capes. They are the reason that the City of Berkeley allows the skatepark to be there in the first place. They are there to provide assistance when someone gets injured and they are there to prevent many different illegal activities (fights, tagging, drugs, etc…) from happening at the skatepark. I got the chance to speak with Gerald Patterson, who is the head of both the skatepark monitor program and the skate instructor program. We spoke about the problem that he feels that he is addressing, which is, the lack of facilities/environments for kids to go to and feel safe. He feels that the skatepark provides a clean and a safe environment for the youth to come and spend their time. The availability of a public skatepark helps prevent damage to private property and also reduces illicit behavior within our communities. Mr. Patterson said that he is a servant of the community, a servant of the youth. Their entire operation is funded by the City of Berkley and that is who they receive their compensation from. I could tell that even though they were being paid (justifiably) to monitor the skatepark and to instruct the skate school, that even if they were not being paid, they would do it for free. Mr. Patterson believes that their guided philosophy is to 1) “Provide a safe environment for members of their community and to treat every equal, all-while hosting as many free events as possible.” and 2) “SKATE or DIE”.
During my time while working with different monitors and instructors, I learned the ropes of their day-to-day operation.

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

website, they have “adopted” Dr. Ehrlich’s definition of civic engagement, which is:

“Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.” (Preface, p.vi)”

The social problem in this case is our youth being exposed to violence and criminal behavior in their neighborhoods. The skatepark provides them with a safe environment that they can spend their time at, without having to worry about being bad environments.
While working on this project, I learned the importance of having a mentor in life. Mentors can provide a spark, or a simple path of guidance in life. Many of the local kids that come to the Berkeley Skatepark 24/7 are at that stage in life where it is easy to fall into bad-habits. The skatepark is a safe place that breeds perseverance, determination and creativity. Skateboarding provides self-discipline and progression through creativity and courageousness. These are all key elements to have in life, which will help you become a better individual overall. I am thankful that I was able to work with the monitors and instructors at Berkeley Skatepark and this project has vastly shifted my perception of Berkley Skatepark. It is more than just a slab of concrete, it is a community, home to people from all walks of life, that all share the same passion for skateboarding.