“My hope was that this would be an experience that they bring back home with them to encourage them to get outside and be active while playing a new activity.” Thank you to Upward Bound Academic Coordinator Matthew Medlin for contributing to this feature post.
Since the pandemic, one sport that has really gained popularity has been disc golf. Many of our students live close to some really fun disc golf courses which gave me the idea of trying to introduce the sport to them this summer. The goal was for every student to get a disc, but I wanted the students to be able to add their own flair to their discs as well. Dyeing discs is a great way to incorporate some art into the sport and a fun way to let them add a custom touch. I reached out to the disc golf company MVP and proposed this idea to them with the hope they would be interested in sponsoring our Upward Bound group this summer. To my surprise, they were very excited about the idea and sent us enough discs for every student to get one at no charge! Throughout the summer, the Upward Bound students rotated through groups that taught them the fundamentals of disc golf while giving them a chance to play on some practice baskets around campus. They also dyed over 80 discs. To end the disc golf experience for the summer, all of the rising 10th graders went to Ashe County Park to play a full round of disc golf with their newly dyed disc. My hope was that this would be an experience that they bring back home with them to encourage them to get outside and be active while playing a new activity.
Kacen Beers, a 10th grade Upward Bound Scholar from McDowell Count really enjoyed the disc dying experience this summer. His favorite part was being with the other UB students in East Hall. The smallness of the room made it easy for everyone to talk and laugh together while they dyed their discs.
See before and after of the dyed discs here.
UB Scholars dye discs for disc golf.
UB Scholars dye discs for disc golf.
UB Scholars dye discs for disc golf.