NORFOLK, Neb. -- For all the young skaters out there, the Norfolk Parks and Recreation Department has teamed up with Wisper Local Partnership to bring skateboarding lessons to Norfolk. 

Children and people of all ages can learn the basics of skateboarding with qualified instructors. The class is offered Oct. 2, Oct. 16, Nov. 6 and Nov. 20. Skateboard instructor Nathaniel Murray shares his experience with the classes and how everything came to fruition. 

“So, Bryce, the owner of Wisper Skate Shop, was the one who originally started skate school out of the back of the shop on his little mini ramp,” Murray said. “We rebuilt the mini ramp and luckily, we haven’t had to put any kids on it this year. We worked with the city, and they were gracious enough to get us out here and kind of take care of all the back work, so we could get kids riding this new park we got.”

There are three different levels of classes to choose from. The beginner's course is from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., the intermediate class is from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the advanced class is from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. 

According to Murray, the skateboarding community has always received a bad reputation, but he believes it teaches values to children that they can’t find elsewhere.

“Skateboarding as a culture kind of gets a bad rap, at times, for sure,” Murray said. “Throughout my childhood, riding a skateboard from the time I was five years old until, even, now in my mid-20s. No matter what you want to do, I think skateboarding teaches kids that, you know, no matter how hard you try at something there is always something you can work on. And if you do fail at first, you can always succeed down the road and that’s kind of what skateboarding is. I mean, you try, try, try, fall and get hurt, and as long as you get back up on the board, I feel like you’re doing pretty good.”

Of course, the classes include working with children as well as new and inexperienced skateboarders, the instructors take safety seriously as they want to make sure kids can learn skateboarding safely. 

“We’ve had a couple of scrapes, a couple of boo-boos, no stitches, no nothing like that. You know band-aids and stuff,” Murray said. “The biggest thing for me, I am a father myself and I want to make sure I take care of these kids the same way, I want my own son taken care of, or my daughter. Making sure that they are safe, having a good experience, supporting them and trying to instill a little bit of my own values in them of hard work and effort and stuff like that.”

The classes are still open for registration.