Looking into room 2002 on any given Wednesday you would see a group of students trying to learn more about a shared passion: skateboarding.

Staples’ skate club is a group of both experienced and inexperienced skaters trying to make Westport a more skate-friendly town. Club presidents Noah Salpeter ’23 and Freddie Aldridge ’24 founded the group to help bring together the Staples skateboarding community.

“[Noah and I] realized that a lot of students here want to try skateboarding but don’t know how to start,” Aldridge said. “Through the skate club we can teach them about skateboarding and they can help us give back to the skating community. ” 

Along with bringing new members into the skating community, the club is currently trying to fundraise money to help repair and upgrade the Compo Beach skatepark.

“Currently, we are working on fundraising for the Compo Beach skatepark to repair and upgrade certain parts of the park and make a difference at the park,” Aldridge said.

The skate club has also been able to talk to a representative from The Skatepark Project. This is an organization created by Tony Hawk that aims to aid skateboarders in lower funded communities with support from local citizens. 

In the club’s meeting, they were able to learn more about what is needed to build and maintain a skatepark.

“He gave us a lot of materials that hopefully can be used if/when they are able to sit down with parks and rec, municipal leaders or decision makers about some of the things they are hoping to do,” English teacher and club advisor Jesse Bauks said.

Outside of their current projects both presidents encouraged any student to join their club regardless of skating experience.

“We’re not just group skaters but anyone,” Salpeter said “We’re [also] a very social community trying to help make new friends and talk about skateboarding fundraising for the skatepark and other skating related things.”