STAFFORD TOWNSHIP — Southern Regional High School has long been known for its wide range of extracurricular offerings. This spring, students welcomed a new addition to that list — the Southern Skateboard Club.
Sophomore Cami Gallupi, from Waretown, was quick to join. She rekindled her love for skating through the club.
“I used to skate a lot in fourth and fifth grade with my dad,” Gallupi said. “Then I’d go to the Brick skate park every week with a group called Pink Pineapple — it was all girls my age.”
Though she drifted away from the sport in middle school, the club brought her back.
“I love skating with the club because it got me back into it,” she said. “I’ve picked it up again pretty quickly with my friend JoAnne LaVeglio. We’re both around the same level.”
The club was created by longtime social studies teacher Sarah Evert, who has taught at Southern for 23 of her 28 years in education. Evert, who lives in North Beach Haven, also previously coached middle school field hockey. She said the club is about more than just skating.
“The importance of skate and surf goes far beyond the sports themselves,” she said. “The community around them is amazing. They support one another. It’s had a huge impact on my own sons. They’ve learned so many life lessons from that community.”
Evert credits The Shack Board Shop and mentors like Donnie Miller and Moses DeMartino for helping shape her sons’ experiences. Her husband, Steve, is a surfer and skater who introduced their boys, Shane (Class of 2022) and Reese (Class of 2024), to the lifestyle early on.
“Reese is more dedicated to skating, and Shane probably leans more toward surfing,” she said. “But I’m just happy they love both. I have photos of Reese skating at around age 5 at the old roller hockey rink in Beach Haven.”
Evert said many of their family vacations have been planned around skate and surf destinations. She believes both sports have had a positive influence on her sons’ character and sense of community.
As faculty adviser, Evert made sure the new skateboard club was formally approved by the school board. Until now, the closest thing to it had been the Southern Regional Surf Team, founded in the mid-1980s by the late Tom Ackers, who passed away in 2023.
Evert modeled the club after successful programs at Toms River High School East and Central Bucks High School West in Pennsylvania. She got the idea when Reese volunteered at a skate clinic and fundraiser for neurodivergent kids, hosted by The Shack and run by Toms River East’s skate club.
“I reached out to both advisers,” Evert said. “They were incredibly helpful. Toms River especially helped guide us on how to keep safety a priority.”
One of the highlights for Southern Skateboard Club members has been group trips to nearby skate parks in Waretown, Neptune, and Long Branch. These trips have been made possible through support from the Southern Regional Transportation Department, which Evert praised for its flexibility.