For over 35 years The Eriksen Family has hosted the summer camp Art and Science In The Woods, at Blue Heron Farm in rural Illinois. For the second year in a row EA's Mike Kershnar has taught a skateboard and graffiti arts class, where 50 kids get to play with “outlaw mediums” mostly for their first time. Thanks to Dick Blick for donating all the materials and Create A Skate for providing the decks. Click here to see photos from the day.

On Monday May 18th, Elemental Awareness visited the Salvation Army afterschool skate program on S. Central Ave in LA to paint skateboards with the kids. EA provided the skateboards and the kids provided the creativity and unique designs. Program supervisor and long time EA family member PJ Harris was on hand helping the kids paint and teaching them how to skateboard. Click here to see photos from this special day.

Environmental sustainability and positive social development are central to Sambazon’s core, which coincides perfectly with Element’s positive contributions to skateboarding and environmental consciousness. To enter, write two pages about why skateboarding and the environment have been a positive influence in your life as well as what you do to help serve your community and make it a better place. Lastly, let us know why it is important for you to go to Element Skate Camp. The contest will be judged on Creativity, Passion and Writing skills. Please submit all essays to:
todd@elementalawareness.org
Winners will be notified by June 10th. Good Luck!

Furni Creations and Don Pendleton have teamed up to create two very unique alarm clocks to benefit EA. Each clock is hand made out of wood that comes from a 200 year old barn in the Swiss Alps. Once the clocks were finished, Skateboard Artist, Don Pendleton painted some of his stylistic signature art on them for a one of a kind look. All proceeds benefit Elemental Awareness.
Click here to visit the auction site for Clock 1.
Click here to visit the auction site for Clock 2.
Click here to see some pictures of the clocks.

Congrats to Drake Flores who was the overall winner at the Austin, TX stop in the "Make It Count" contest series, click here to watch the video. Drake will join 14 pre-qualified others at week one of skate camp and compete for Element flow sponsorship. Thanks to Capital Skatepark, The District and everyone that came out and ripped! view the full results here:

Overall Scholarship winner- Drake Flores

Zone 1 (Pyramid/Box/flatbar handrail)
13 and under- Michael Greinert- Fakie Big Flip
14-17- Paden Johnson- Nollie Big spin Heel
18 up- Matt Rodriguez- 50 across and down handrail

Zone 2 (Hubbas)
13 and under- Alder Wilson- Board slide pop up to switch 50 50
14-17- Drake Flores- F.S Tail Kickflip out
18 up- Max Taylor- Transfer to back lip

Zone 3 (4 Block/Handrail)
13 and under- Joe Brinkley- Kickflip the 4 block/Feeble handrail)
14-17- Drake Flores- B.S Big Spin 4 block
18 up- Robert Nunez- 360 flip 4 block

The 7th stop on the Make it Count National Contest Series went down this past weekend in the Central Valley town of Delano, CA. More than 500 skaters showed up for the days events. The excitement was at an all time high with tons of local skaters in attendance. Congrats goes out to Michael Ruiz for winning Best overall and a Scholarship to Element YMCA Skate Camp where he will compete with the other event winners for a year sponsorship by Element Skateboards. Special thanks goes out to all of our sponsors. Click here to see the photos from the event.


Best Trick Obstacle 1 (The Hip)
13 and under Winner: Trevor McCune, Nollie Heel
14-17 Winner: Bradley Elias, Nollie Big Heel
18 and up/Sponsored: Omar Withers, Big FS flip

Best Trick Obstacle 2 (The Spine)
13 and under Winner: Alex Midler, Kickflip Blunt
14-17 Winner: Michael Ruiz, FS 360 air
18 and up/Sponsored: Dirty Dan, Fakie Big Blunt Revert...and many more.

Best Trick Obstacle 3 (The Rail/Hubbas)
13 and under Winner: Alex Midler, 50 grind and smith the rail
14-17 Winner: Brian, Back Smith
18 and up/Sponsored: Greg Love, 360 flip noseslide

The Elemental Awareness National Contest series continued in Long Beach, CA. Props to Dylan Witkan who won the 14-17 division and will be competing for Element flow sponsorship this summer at Element YMCA Skate Camp. Props also to Justin Dryson and Ajax who took first place in the other divisions, all around another great event! Click here to check out some photos from the event. Click here to see the video.

13 and Under:
1. Justin Dryson
2. Eric Ellis
3. Trevor Millar

14-17:
1. Dylan Witkin (Scholarship Winner)
2. Bradly Elias
3. Michael Ruiz

18+:
1. Ajax
2. Carlos Lastra
3. Dan Holloway

On Feb. 15-20th, Elemental Awareness attended Wintercount in the Desert outside of Phoenix, AZ. Wintercount is one of the largest Wilderness Skills conferences in the Western US. Wilderness guides and Nature enthusiasts from all over the States come to this gathering to learn and trade skills. Element Team rider Levi Brown and the EA crew were there practicing their skills and creating skate obstacles from the desert landscape.
Click here to see the photos from Wintercount
Click here to see the video

February 28, 2009 – (Santa Monica, CA) Sour Crew Productions hosts the Hashemite Zion Alchemy LA event at Dakota Lounge. Musical Alchemy includes live performances of multicultural Middle Eastern Hip Hop dynamically combined with the first peace summit hosted by Arab and Jewish skateboarders caught on tape and cut into the documentary, 'SOUR: 4 Peace in the Middle East.' SOUR's motto was a film about doing what you love with people you're not supposed to like'; the Hashemite Zion Alchemy events unites people from various traditions and cultures through another urban artform, hip hop." See Flyer for event details.

Elemental Awareness Director, Todd Larson made good on his promise to cut off all his hair and donate it to make wigs for kids with cancer. Our goal was to raise $3000 and we are proud to say that we have accomplished that goal. Thanks go out to everyone who contributed for this special fundraiser. Click here to view the photos from this historical cut.

As most of you know, we have come up with the “Chop That Mop” promotion as a fun way for you all to get involved in donating funds to Elemental Awareness. If we have hit our goal, Director Todd Larson will have no choice but to Chop That Mop! Any amount will help the cause. Thanks in advance for your support of Elemental Awareness, click here for all the info.

On Saturday, December 20, 2008 the Elemental Awareness National Contest Series made a stop in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada at Winchester Skatepark. Following a week of record-breaking snow, skaters were relieved to see the skies clear just in time for this long awaited event. Chipotle showed up in support with delicious free burritos for everyone in attendance. DJ Vicuu kept spirits high with great music all day, and the level of skating was as good as anyone's seen at Winchester Skatepark in a long time. Rising star Joey Esteban took home "best trick" with a wicked kick flip transfer over the ledge and across the pyramid, but local ripper Josh Baldwin carried the day, and won a full scholarship to Element YMCA Skate Camp and a place in the Series Finals. Click here to see photos from the event.

Open
1st Josh Baldwin
2nd Will Pousant
3rd Taylor Spurlin

Advanced
1st Jacob Kidane
2nd Anthony Quick
3rd Jerry Garcia

Intermediate
1st Jared Marchello
2nd Daquan Robinson
3rd Adam Ochoa

Element Advocate and Artist Amber B has donated one of her prized creatures to Elemental Awareness and it's up for bidding, click here to view! This 15" x 30" hand made creature is one of kind, donate to a non-profit and get Black Blood all in one fell swoop! Only two days left to bid!

On Dec. 13th Elemental Awareness held the 4th contest in the National Series at MIA's park in Miami, FL. Entry fee for the contest was a canned food item to be donated to local food banks for the holidays. Guest judges included element flow riders Mat Fink, George Evans and park co-owner and Habitat team rider, Ed Selego. The level of skating was at an all time high with the overall winner, John Landi receiving a full scholarship to Element YMCA Skatecamp and an invitation to the finals. Click here to see the video from the event.

On Thurs. Dec. 11th, Elemental Awareness held a game of SKATE in Downtown Yorba Linda in conjunction with the City's Holiday Festival. Hundreds of skaters from the area came out to skate and watch the action go down. In the end it was Mark Barnett who SKATEd his way into the top spot taking home a handful of prizes and the respect of the crowd. Thanks go out to Mike the Barber for setting the whole event up.

1st place: Mike Barnett
2nd place: Aaron Moreno

Runners up:
Brent Allen
Robert Gohr
Jeff Strawsberg
Thomas De La Riva

On Sat. November 22nd Elemental Awareness headed out to Peoria, AZ to throw down a series of Best Trick contests. Element Team riders Chad Tim Tim, Tony Tave, Levi Brown, Collin Provost and Tony Carr were on hand to skate and judge the contest. Free Chipotle Burritos and Sambazon Acai were given out to the large crowd at the Skatepark. Skaters brought canned food items to be donated to the homeless for the holidays. In the end, it was James Schwartz who won the grand prize of a week up in the beautiful Sequoias at Element YMCA Skate Camp. Thanks to Industrial Ride Shop for making the event a success. Click here for photos from the event. Click here to see the video from the event.

The first stop on the Elemental Awareness National Contest Series went down this last weekend in Chula Vista, Ca. Skaters from all over the Greater San Diego area came out to compete for a scholarship to Element YMCA Skate Camp and a spot in the Series Finals. Everyone who came out for the event received goodies from Chipotle Mexican Grill and Sambazon Acai. In the end, it was Lorenzo Ledesma who took home the victory in the 14-17 division securing a space at camp and in the finals this coming summer. Thanks to everyone who came out to the event. Click here to see photos from this event.


13 and under Finals:
1st- Austin Lenahan
2nd- Cory Juneau
3rd- Jake Frank

14-17 Finals:
1st- Lorenzo Ledesma
2nd- David Cobb
3rd- Masan Stroberg

18 and up Finals:
1st- Nick Bautista
2nd- Rueben Zepeda
3rd- Todd Larson

Best Trick Winner:
1st- Tony Feilen

Tuesday November 11th saw Element Skateboards open the doors of their global office to a select group of kids for a "behind the scenes" tour. Kids in attendance represented the Navajo, Hopi, Pima, and Cherokee Indian Tribes. The group used the tour as an opportunity to learn how skateboards, shoes and clothes are designed and meet the people responsible for creating these products. They also realized that the message behind Elemental Awareness is similar to their own culture's respect for the natural world. Click here to see photos from this tour.

This past week, Elemental Awareness teamed up with Green Ambassadors to put on a Skateboard Painting Day at the Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale, Ca. Each student was given a blank element board, paint and a brush. They used their creativity and passion for the environment to produce some amazing artwork. Special thanks go out to Jessica Ceballos for organizing the event. For more info on Green Ambassadors, check out www.greenambassadors.org. Click here to check out photos from the event.

This past weekend, Elemental Awareness teamed up with a few other skate brands to support the Hood Games in Downtown LA and Oakland, CA. Kids in attendance had the opportunity to skate obstacles from the Summer X-Games with some of their favorite pros including P-Rod, Karl Watson, Chris Haslam, Cooper Wilt and Walker Ryan. The day was full of good vibes as tons of prizes were raffled off to the kids. Props goes out to K-Dub and Adjoa for organizing the event. Click here to see photos from the event.

A young friend of Elemental Awareness from Toronto took the time to send us some artwork he created, click here to check it out. We wanted to thank Dante for think of us and sending his board design in, keep drawing buddy!

The Elemental Awareness Future Nature Am contest series continues this Sunday at the El Dorado park in Long Beach, CA. Click here to check out the flyer for all the info. Element riders Darrell Stanton and Chad Tim Tim expected to be on hand as well.

Here are the first two flyers for the events in Chula Vista and Long Beach.
AM CONTEST #1 - MARCH 8TH - CHULA VISTA,CA
AM CONTEST #2 - MARCH 16TH - LONG BEACH,CA

Elemental Awareness visited an after school program in South Central Los Angeles yesterday run by long time E.A. activist P.J. Harris. The program was in need of some new completes so E.A family along with Element riders brought the boards and had a roll with the kids, click here to watch a few video clips from the afternoon featuring Element Australia pro Josh Rio and Elemental Awareness instructors Cody and Jared Hager.

The dates for the upcoming Elemental Awareness Future Nature AM contest series have been announced. The contest series is five Southern California events, Chula Vista, Long Beach, Simi Valley, Delano and the last being a finals in Orange, CA. At each contest, winners receive large prize packs, are eligible to win a scholarship to Element YMCA Skate Camp and given a ticket to the finals. Winners in all three divisions at the finals win a years supply of Element Decks! Check out the flyer, all the dates in the event calendar, hope to see you there!

Elemental Awareness held the 5th annual Paint-A-Deck-Get-A-Deck event in South Central Los Angeles this past week at the Salvation Army Community Center. Element family including artists Todd Francis, Brooke Reidt and Mike Kershnar along with team riders Chad tim Tim and Tosh Townend were on hand to pass out blank decks that kids then painted on. The kids completed their works with the help of the Element folks and then had a great board that they could ride, give for a holiday gift, or hang on their wall. Some of the best efforts were also rewarded with boards, hats and more. Elemental Awareness thanks PSStix for donating the blanks, all the Element family that came out, and PJ & Andre at the community center for making this another great event. Click here to check out the photo gallery.

Elemental Awareness hosted the 4th Annual Holiday Game of S.K.A.T.E. last night in Yorba Linda, Ca. The turnout was bigger than ever with over 70 skaters entering the contest and many more on hand to cheer them on. Check out a photo gallery from the event here. Congrats to Matt Lemond who took 1st place and a grip of Element product. Last years champ Brent Allen was just behind in 2nd and Robbie Jepson in third. Everyone that made the simi-finals took home an element board and more. Thanks to everyone that came out and ripped!

This past weekend Element riders joined Elemental Awareness to host a Skate Jam in Long Beach at the Vets Community Park. Chad Tim Tim, Levi Brown, Collin Provost, Lacey baker and Patrick Ryan all came out to skate with the kids and judge a best trick contest. The fire department grilled up food for everyone, even a council man came out to take part in the festivities. Thanks to Sammy for organizing the event and all the kids that came out and ripped it up. Congrats to the winners of the best trick contests:
EVENT PHOTO GALLERY
BUMP TO BOX WINNERS:
Oliver Rivas / Lamanzo Coleman / Chris McNeaty
QUARTER PIPE WINNERS:
Juice 'Hammer City' / Chris McNeaty
SPINE WINNERS:
Ray Olson / Christian Molina

Element and Elemental Awareness are proud to sponsor a new independent film project entitled 'Sour.' The film is Directed by Nathan Gray(2nd from left), pictured here with producers and Israeli skater Edi(far left). The brief reads, "In essence, ‘Sour,’ is a film about doing the things you love with people you’re not supposed to like." The film showed as part of the Arab Film Festival and has been receiving nice reviews. Keep your eye out for this project as it becomes available on DVD soon.

This past Sunday under the Manhattan bride Elemental Awareness held the 'Big Double in Little China' contest. Tons of skaters came out to compete in the four part best trick contest, the final zone being the massive double set. Thanks to everyone that came out, skated, and supported the thriving local scene making for a great day in NYC!
Photo Gallery | Video (weekly web clip #53)

Last Sunday Elemental Awareness Teamed up with the “Inside the Outdoors”, an Orange County Dept. of Education youth program, to put on a day of Nature Exploration in Silverado Canyon. Kids from all over the area came to interact with wild animals, hike around the canyon and take a shot at making a friction fire. Big ups go out to the lady who was holding the live rattlesnake. Although devenomized, there was still a 10% chance that the rattler still had some poison in her. All in all, it was a great day to be out in nature right here in our backyard.

This past weekend the Element team headed to Torrance, CA for a Team Demo, Signing and AM Contest all presented by Beachworks. Click here for a photo gallery from the event. The event started off with Elemental Awareness hosting a series of best trick contests, winners taking home element packages and the overall winner, Alec Beck was rewarded with a years supply of boards. Congrats to the winners:
overall winner: Alec Beck
handrail/stairs: Evan Edwards
pyramid: Doug DesAuhis
spine: Alec Beck

After the contest the team took center stage with a demo, click here to watch footage from the demo from the demo. The long list of Element riders skating included Tony Tave, Tosh Townend, Ray Barbee, Levi Brown, Collin Provost, Mike Barker, Vanessa Torres and flow riders Sebo Walker, Tony Carr and Patrick Ryan.

Elemental Awareness has just finished up a summer long Wilderness Survival Skills program at Element YMCA Skate Camp. Tons of kids came through the program making Shelters, Fire, Spoons and bowls. They also learned how to find and purify water and move silently through the woods. Congratulations goes out to all the scholarship recipients that went to camp this year. Special thanks to all the EA interns and instructors for making this summer one of the best yet.

Elemental Awareness will has been running a full wilderness survival program up at Element YMCA Skateboard Camp for the last 3 weeks. The program consists of learning the basics of building a shelter, making fire, finding and purifying water and finding food when out in the wilderness. Day 1 is shelter day. Here is a shelter built by the EA group during week 1 of camp. Day 2 is fire day. Here we see Andy making a fire for the first time. Day 3 is water day. Here is a demonstration of boiling water with hot rocks. Elemental Awareness has many great instructors and interns that make the program run. Here is the band of misfits that will be running EA up at Element Y camp all summer!