Skateboarding, surfboarding, and snowboarding are staples of Southern California culture, and this is no exception in Santa Barbara, but until 2024 there had been no class at Dos Pueblos High School that catered to these interests. That was until DPHS woodshop teacher Steve Mollkoy adopted a new class curriculum from the “Gone Boarding” organization, a non-traditional curriculum where students design and

build their own skateboards, snowboards, and surfboards to keep and use themselves.

“The Gone Boarding class started because students wanted it,” Mollkoy said. “They kept asking me to teach them how to make skateboards, then surfboards got added, and finally there was enough interest in making those things that I could create a class for it.”

The DPHS Gone Boarding class has seen high attendance and interest reflected throughout the construction tech pathway, receiving support from the community as well as companies associated with gone boarding, so that students can have these resources at no personal cost.

While students work at their own pace in a typical class day, students will follow the same general process of board construction.

First, students design the layout of the board they want to build, before using the woodshop tools to begin crafting the board and using class-provided materials such as trucks and wheels for skateboards. Students then paint or design the board however they’d like.

“We’re working on the surfboard right now,” Kevin Mcgibben (11) said. “My favorite one [to build] is definitely the surfboard, it’s the most fun and I can’t wait to ride it when it’s done.”

Carson Unander (10) enjoyed Gone Boarding so much that he took the class multiple times.

“I’ve already taken the class because I’m a [teaching assistant],” Unander said. “But last year was super fun, and I just wanted to come back and help out.”

The original idea to pioneer this class on campus came originally from Mollkoy’s friends Bill and Scott in Michigan, who were involved with the Gone Boarding organization, but Mollkoy said it took a few years of work and logistics to set up the class at DPHS.

“I wrote the curriculum for the State of California CSU-UC systems A-G requirements based on their class curriculum — with a few additions and modifications to fit our school environment and my teaching style,” Mollkoy said. “It took about a year and a half to get it created and on the SBUSD’s class options listing so the counselors could sign students up.”

Mollkoy said his favorite part of running the class is watching the students thrive and find success in their work.

“The most rewarding part for me is seeing students complete their boards — whichever one they have chosen — and to see them in a video or with pictures enjoying it in the ocean, snow or at a skatepark,” Mollkoy said. “I love the collaboration with students — helping them realize their vision for what they wanna build. I feel blessed to be a part of that process.”

Edited 5/11/2026 for headline clarity.