Meet Toni Frallicciardi | Founder of Surf Skate Science – STEAM Educational Cooperative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Toni Frallicciardi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Toni, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?

Everything I need to succeed, I have learned at my local skatepark or surf break. Action sports are all about progression. It’s not about being better than anyone else, but about being better than your past self.

Action Sports also give us and our students all the critical skills needed for the 21st Century:

– We all need creativity and the ability to be innovative. Skateparks and skateboards are filled with physics, geometry, science, engineering, and math. Plus, action sports really do not have any rules or limitations. The way you do tricks in a skatepark or on a wave is all about style. In fact, style is more important than the tricks themselves. Actions sports is all about creativity. expressing yourself in a unique way and testing out new ways to have fun on your board. Plus,both surfers and skaters alike take and make all kinds of waves and skatepark terrain and turn it into a canvas for creative movement.

– Over the last few years we have all learned how important it is to be resilient and face challenges as a problem solver. Action Sports require a lot of focus, patience, and persistence. They teach that failure, such as falling, is OK. Falling and failing in action sports is inevitable. Skaters know how to fall smart, get back up and try again. They may fall a hundred times before they land the trick but there is a lesson in each fall.

– Contrary to popular belief, skaters aren’t daredevils. They’re taking calculated risks and utilizing critical thinking. When you see someone jumping down a set of stairs, they aren’t careless or suicidal. They built up to the trick and jumped down gaps hundreds of times before.

– Skaters and surfers become skilled diplomats who know their place in the lineup and in the skatepark. Just watch any group of skaters lined up around a bowl or surfers waiting for a wave. They wordlessly know when it is their turn, whether the person on the wave before them had an epic ride and how many tricks and runs they can pump out before annoying the next person behind them. The naturally become diplomats and negotiators and this follow them out of the water and the skatepark.

– Through action sports, you’ll meet people from all ages, ethnicity, and social status. This culture encourages strong independent thinking and the drive needed to take on challenge after challenge. They learn to find and make their own lines amid the beautiful chaos of a busy skatepark or break. They naturally gain significant emotional intelligence.

– In action sports look at things a little differently. Take skaters for instance… We see a staircase as a way to get from one level of a building to another. But for a skater they see nothing but potential. Just like a skateboarder sees the all the tricks they can do down a simple staircase, we hope to change the perspective of how others see skateboarders in our communities.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Surf Skate Science gives students a hands-on way to learn science, technology, engineering, art, math and more through action sports. Our goal is to foster wonder, innovation, imagination, resiliency and more in the next generation and help them to know that anything is possible.

We LOVE when a parent tells us that our class is the only morning parents do not need to drag their kids out of bed. We also love seeing kids find their passions and accomplish things they never thought they could do.

We have built the program from the ground up so it has been challenging but it has also been so rewarding. We have learned to think out of the box, dream big and to follow our dreams. We have learned that it is all about community and investing in those around you.

We hope that our programs make an impact and give kids all the grit they need to succeed in any areas they are passionate about. We hope they learn to value other’s differences and celebrate collaboration.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Island Water Sports for FREE Surf Lessons, paddleboarding or eBikes. Lot 11 for the best skatepark in South Florida. Flynn’s Arcade or Silverball Pinball Museum for some fun vintage gaming. Gumbo Limbo to visit our favorite local turtles. Our amazing Everglades for an epic adventure! Mass Art District for art without the hectic vibe of Wynwood. Snorkeling at Phil Foster Park or Kayaking at Oleta.. …. Honestly there are too many places to name but these are a few. We just love our hometown!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our shoutout goes to all the people who have invested in us and partnered to allow us to follow our passions. Paul Schmitt (aka The Professor), Island Water Sports, Sheckler Foundation, Vela Education Fund, All Out Skate, Skate Free Florida, Stand Together, and too many others to name!

x

Website: https://www.surfskatescience.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/surfskatescience

Twitter: https://twitter.com/skate_science

Facebook: https://facebook.com/surfskatescience

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyM3l9c8lFcE-gt5bakO7uQ

Image Credits
Ulises Frallicciardi