VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It was a cross-city collaboration dreamed up by a local high school student.
Lucy Pavlik, a junior at Cox High School said she wanted to help other students get out of their comfort zones, while also expanding their social networks.
Students from the two Virginia Beach schools came together for surf lessons on Thursday at Croatan beach.
“I thought it would be a really great way to break a boundary with Green Run and Cox, because we never really get to do anything with them, especially cause it’s so far out. I just thought it would be a great way to bring the community together and have some fun,” said Pavlik.
Chris Jacobs, a teacher at Green Run High School, helped coordinate the event with the help of the Seth Broudy Surf School and volunteers at We Are VB, a non-profit.
Jacobs watched as the waves crashed and students from different high schools formed new bonds.
“The ocean brought them together, and now the Cox students are out there helping our Green Run students hop on the board, and they’re riding the wave in, and that’s sort of a beautiful thing,” said Jacobs.
As the waves crashed, they broke barriers along the way.
“It’s something that we want to see more of in our city and more in our school system: cross-city collaboration and working together,” said Jacobs.
Brooklyn Harris, a sophomore at Green Run High School, said she learned a valuable lesson while surfing: to hang onto hope, even when the water gets rough.
“I wanted to quit so much today. I was like ‘I’m done, I can’t do this,’ but once you get the hang of it, anyone can surf. You just gotta have patience and believe in yourself,” said Harris.
The students said it’s the first of many places where they’ll come together.
“The ocean is like this incredible healer. You know, you come out here and whatever is going on in your life, you just sort of lose it,” said Jacobs.