For years, skateboarders at De Pere (Wisc.) High School were used to school officials shooing them away when they tried to skate on school grounds. But this year, administrators are not only accepting the extreme sports interests of their students, they're actually encouraging them.

When De Pere circulated surveys in May 2005 to gauge interest in new sports or activities, it discovered a great demand for extreme sports like skateboarding and snowboarding. The students' interest spurred De Pere to create a new after-school club to reach students who wouldn't otherwise sign up for school athletics.

"The idea is to give each of those students a connection with a role model beyond their teachers in the classroom and to foster a sense of belonging to a group," says Athletic Director Jeff Byczek.

But De Pere also knew the club needed to be led differently than the school's traditional sports. "Many of the kids who are interested in extreme sports gravitate toward less structured environments," Byczek says. "A kid who's involved in skateboarding is probably doing it because he doesn't want the rigid organization that the basketball team has, and if you put that kind of structure in place, he might back away."

"We are keeping the interest of the kids in the forefront of how we proceed," says club Advisor Robert Mohar. "The more we can provide an outlet for participation and shape the club to their interests, the better."

The extreme sports are treated like an after-school club rather than an interscholastic sport. The school pays for transportation to skate parks and ski resorts, and club members pay reduced admissions negotiated by the school. Sports currently offered include skateboarding and inline skating, skiing and snowboarding, and mountain biking. The school is still trying to implement paintball and motocross, and will re-evaluate the program after its first year to determine if sports should be added or dropped.

"Our kids are very excited about it," Byczek says. "The students who are interested in skateboarding had felt kind of shunned before. They always wanted to skate here at the school or in the parking lot and we had to tell them they couldn't. Now, we're the ones taking them to the skate parks."