Woodward @ Cooper

Through a new contact, Lil O and Cousin A spent the afternoon at Woodward at Cooper - an incredible indoor/outdoor training facility for skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, slopeside mountain biking, bmx-ing and digital media-ing (I like parallelism in my writing, hence the extra -ings).  Lil O has been skiing for six years.  Cousin A just started snowboarding this year.  Woodward, thankfully, welcomes all ability levels.  Yahoo!

There are so many pluses to spending the afternoon at Woodward at Cooper (or any of the Woodwards across the US), buying a season pass to their indoor "barn" or delighting in a week-long camp there.  I mean just look at the photos above and below.  These gals burned some serious calories, smiled endlessly, and the atmosphere & staff encouraged trying new things.  Trying new things in a safe and helpful environment?  I'm a supporter!

There are trampolines, foam pits and ramps everywhere as you can see in the photos.  The girls practiced flips, twists, and turns.  There is even two outside areas to practice moves (see upper left photo below).  The other outdoor space is full of snow.  Yep, you heard me.  Real. Snow. 

When you are on a bike, a skateboard, roller skis or a board, you can launch into these deep, wide foam pits.  Neither Lil O nor Cousin A had their ski/board boots with them, so they spent their time practicing moves that will help with balance, transitions and tricks when winter rolls around.

Watching them for the afternoon at Woodward at Cooper made me crave two things:  1) winter sports and 2) wishing we had a Woodward in Maryland - hint, hint.

Since I'm an educator, I had a kinda wonky, but uber-cool idea.  What if Woodward (they have four locations across the US - Colorado, Pennsylvania and two in California and their new location in Maryland, Ha!) had a Woodward School. Yep, a school where you learn reading, writing, math, social studies, and science through the Woodward way.

....which really means every kid will be happy, active, nurtured, and engaged.

A total score to me as a mom, educator and lover-of-cool-things.

I'm in.  Are you?

PS - Cousin A said the two highlights of her week in Colorado were bouldering on "real" rock and Woodward.  Yippee!

PSS - Please forgive the slightly blurry, iPhone photos above.  It is clear that Nikon or Canon needs to sponsor Upcycled Education next year.

PSSS - Big thank you to Wade, Krista, Pete, Chris and Coach Greg of Woodward for taking care of sweet Lil O and Cousin A.