SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) - Kekoa Latimore was born and raised in San Diego and has loved skateboarding his entire life, so he’s now dedicating his time to sharing that passion with local students.
Latimore started the nonprofit Pushing for Education and goes around to local middle schools and high schools to teach skateboarding after school. He said learning to skate can teach many life lessons.
“In order to get good at skating, you have to learn how to accept failure. You have to learn how to accept falling, getting hurt, trying it again, finding that willingness to try it again knowing you might fail,” he said.
He currently teaches at San Diego High School, Roosevelt Middle School and Bayfront Charter in Chula Vista, with a goal of traveling to even more schools.
He decided to take his after school program to the next level and host an exhibition, inviting multiple schools to come together at San Diego High School to skate together.
The event was hosted May 11, and Latimore hired a professional to install a temporary skate park on campus for the event, a task that was about $5,000 and he paid for on his own.
“I wanted to give the students an experience of what it’s like skating not only with their friends but even with other high schools, with other schools around the area,” he said.
He added that skateboarding can get a negative reputation, but he wants people to treat it like any other sport. He also wants to give the students a community.
“Everybody wants to feel accepted. Everybody wants to feel involved. Everybody wants to feel like they’re a part of something. And the sooner they feel that, the better they feel about themselves,” he said.
The nonprofit's motto: anything is possible. And he wants the students to know that.
