While skateboarding and its professionals have become world-famous, skateboarders themselves are often thought of as punks, the bad kids.

Junior Landon Whisnant, co-founder of the Skateboarding Club, says this stereotype is wrong.

“I used to be part of a group that was basically a skate team who did community service projects around the city for people. We cleaned up the park, we planted trees…that doesn’t sound bad to me.”

To join the Skateboarding Club, students must return a liability waiver to club sponsor James Paul. Students may then skate with the club at Victory Fellowship Church every Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

Since skateboarding isn’t allowed on school grounds, Victory Fellowship Church has agreed to let the club use its property. Members plan to build rails and boxes to skate on; however, if students aren’t quite ready for that yet, the club gives lessons.

“Landon said he would help teach people how to skate. He’s the one who taught me how to trick skate. He’s an inspiration to us all,” junior Jacob Stephen said.

Whisnant says the club will help dispel the stigma surrounding the sport by giving students a positive emotional outlet. Skateboarding provides students a way to free their minds from the stress of everyday life. Its lack of rules also allows for an amount of creativity and independence not found in any other sport.

“I thought skateboarding was cool, so I tried it. After a couple weeks of pushing around and falling down, I actually learned something. After I entered my first contest, I realized that I want to do this for the rest of my life. I’m driven to skate every day just because of the feeling it gives me,” Whisnant said.

Whisnant says skateboarding is about personal growth and having fun with friends, and with the Skateboarding Club, he hopes to promote a good image of the sport within the community.