SHIPROCK, N.M. — More than 5,000 kids and teens on the Navajo Nation are getting a big surprise this Wednesday – skateboards!

This is happening before the Northern Navajo Nation Fair in Shiprock at the fairgrounds. Amy Denet Deal, the founder of the nonprofit Dine Garden Project, opened her own skate park in 2021. Her project teaches and connects kids and teens in the skating community.

“As the kids get better, they need more equipment. They need to stay safe. A lot of them are over in an hour for many emergency care facility,” she said. “and then on Navajo Nation, there’s not very many community parks or community gathering spaces. So these parks are going to be such an important part of the future work.”

Already, Denet Deal has seen progress in the people she has worked with.

“I’m seeing kids that, two years ago, were the shyest kids ever, who have got skateboarding as part of their life, They’ve gained confidence,” she said.

They’ll get to tap into their inner Tony Hawk. He’s someone who knows all about skateboarding in the Four Corners and even stopped there when the park opened last year.

Kids and teens can join a mentorship program with skateboarder Sean Harris to learn all the tricks.

“He’s a phenomenal skater and somebody that the kids look up to, but it’s just an important thing to spend time with them,” Denet Deal said.

She says they’re not done yet. Plans are in the works for more skate parks and transportation on four wheels.

“We want to have more spaces that this is happening on the Navajo Nation. 27,000 square miles, and that’s over three states,” she said. “That just brings me so much joy to be able to build these bridges for our next generation to get into these sports or into these areas of an active sportswear career.”

The main focus will be areas farthest away from the Navajo Nation’s borders.