Del Norte High School Fine Arts teacher Paul “Josh” Garcia turned his vision of the future into a skateboarding class at Del Norte. According to Josh, the unique class provides all sorts of opportunities: “You can go in those different avenues, whether it’s being a graphic artist, going into videography for skateboarding or personal training or stuff like that,” or becoming an Olympic skateboarder?
At a recent Olympic viewing party, hosted by the City of Albuquerque, Josh Garcia and Albuquerque skater Pearl Herrera-Vigil were interviewed by KOB-TV in the piece “Inspired by Mariah Duran, local skaters hope to see sport get more respect“. Pearl Herrera-Vigil once competed against Mariah Duran, an Albuquerque native who was a part of Team USA in the Paris Olympics this year.
Skateboarding has come a long way. ““It’s a grown way back in the day, from the ’80s and ’90s to now, especially with having these awesome facilities, these parks. There’s a lot more interest and stuff and the ability level has gotten so incredibly good,” Garcia said.