Ski Club says thanks

(This letter was originally addressed to the Aspen Thrift Shop.)Thank you again for your generous support of Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club. Your grant did so much to make our programs possible.This past season was one of the best ever for the club. Over 1,500 kids participated in our programs – more kids than are enrolled in the entire Aspen public school system. AVSC was able to award nearly $80,000 in financial aid to over 250 deserving youth. Much of the assistance was targeted for Latino youth, who now make up over 10 percent of our participants. Many of our participants distinguished themselves with their athletic achievement.To mention a few, AVSC had National Champions in Simi Hamilton (Nordic), Kristin Walla (Freestyle), Teddy Karlinski (Snowboard) and Jordan Karlinski (Snowboard). There were also notable team accomplishments. AVSC skiers powered the Aspen High School girls to their fourth consecutive state skiing championship, and AVSC was chosen by the United States Ski/Snowboard Association as the 2003 USSA Snowboard Club of the Year. That’s quite an honor!But most importantly, all of our participants had fun while learning commitment, teamwork, discipline and citizenship – values to help them mature into responsible young adults. Here are some examples of the important work we do:- A mother comments, “My son gets teased some at school. But when he’s with AVSC coaches and participants, they accept him as another athlete. It’s been a real boost to his self esteem.”- An English as a Second Language teacher in Basalt observes that her students frequently write about their AVSC programs and tells of a particular group of AVSC grads – high school students – who go to the mountain every weekend with friends. She credits AVSC with giving the kids a positive activity and keeping them out of trouble.Mark A. Cole, executive directorAVSC