LA Surf Bus Allows City Kids to Catch a Wave

Elementary and middle school kids from some of Los Angeles' toughest neighborhoods are learning how to surf this summer. But the eight-week program that provides the gear, transportation, and lunch is on the brink of bankruptcy. KPCC's Patricia Nazario tagged along during a recent field trip and filed this report. (Note: Story updated 7/27/07 3:45 p.m. PT)

Patricia Nazario: While the morning air's still brisk, about four dozen boys and girls line up to climb aboard a yellow school bus. It's dubbed the "LA Surf Bus." Park Counselor Damian HeartField checks names off a list.

Damian HeartField: Curtis, Curtis, Curtis...

Nazario: Curtis and his camp-mates are also neighbors. They live in Nickerson Gardens, in the Watts section of South Los Angeles. It's the largest public housing development this side of the Mississippi River. Windows and doors have bars, and dirt patches substitute for green lawns. These kids face tough life choices every day: drugs, alcohol and gangs.

But on the bus, on the way to the beach, they're laughing and joking. Nine-year-old Tyronaya Wright grabs the microphone and starts hosting her own make-believe talk show.

Tyronaya Wright: We're gonna keep it moving with the Nay Nay show...

Nazario: "Nay Nay" interviews the little girl sitting next to her about last week's surfing field trip.

Wright: Did y'all see anything in the water, like animals or something?
Girl: Dolphins.
Wright: Wow, Dolphins.

Nazario: These types of simple pleasures are what Mary Setterholm was dreaming about when she started the non-profit organization four years ago. The U.S. Surfing Champion was inspired after a middle-school-aged African-American girl, who lived near Nickerson Gardens, drowned at the same beach where Setterholm was teaching surfing to another group of kids.

Mary Setterholm: I didn't cry about that one for two years. I just got busy.

Nazario: Setterholm says that gettin' busy now includes 400 elementary to high-school-aged kids from 60 different L.A. County parks. Every day during the summer, eight different buses load up for various beaches.

Setterholm's for-profit surf school covers most expenses, and a few outside sponsors pitch in. But nothing substitutes for Setterholm's one-on-one mentoring, like the tips she's giving Vernon Warren.

Setterholm: You gotta do it with a big hop, like this, look, watch. Boom! You see that?

Nazario: After riding a few waves together, the 11-year-old's hooked.

Vernon Warren: It was the most amazing thing ever. This was my first time surfing, but like... for the first time, it was all right though.

HeartField: It opens their minds up, and it gives them a chance to be the kids that they really are.

Nazario: L.A. County park counselor Damian HeartField, who checked off names as kids boarded the bus, praises Setterholm's program. But its founder can't pay for most of it by herself any more. She says her $50,000 annual budget isn't enough.

Setterholm: I need to cover the buses. I need volunteers to help me. I need gallons of water for these kids. Next to all these kids are on a free lunch program, and sometimes the lunch isn't delivered and it's crazy. We have to feed 'em. In short, I'm probably gonna be in the hole $100,000.

Nazario: If she can't convince more contributors to take the plunge and help out, Setterholm says she may have to cut this summer's program short and eliminate the LA Surf Bus next year.