I'd be willing to wager that a large amount of Needles and Sins readers spent an equally large amount of time on a skateboard.  And about the time you and your skateboard became inseparable (and Gleaming the Cube was on constant rotation in the family VCR) you probably also started to develop a healthy dislike for both school and your parents.  Well, here's proof that it's possible to love skating, hate school and still buy your old man that "World's Greatest Dad" coffee mug come Father's Day.

The 50 Skate Kid.

Little Logan and his parents opted out of his 6th grade year of traditional schooling to take him around the United States so that he could skate in every state and learn firsthand about our nation in a decidedly non-traditional approach (all I learned in 6th grade was how to hide a Mad Magazine inside a science book and, IMHO, could have learned a lot more on the road).  As noted on their About page:

The idea germinated during a frustrating homework assignment about North Dakota, when Logan declared that he "would learn more by actually going to North Dakota!"  Somehow, this conversation led to high level discussion of experiential learning and dedication to one's passion (skateboarding, in Logan's case).  The result is a very interesting plan for sixth grade.

Sadly, I wasn't able to go out and meet Logan and his father, Matt, last weekend when they were NYC because they are looking for sponsors/donors along the way and I would have gladly bought a t-shirt and bought them some fine NYC cuisine/street-meat/shit-in-a-tray for lunch.  Regardless, I'm still gonna order that t-shirt in black and wanted to spread the word to all of you out there in internetlandville.

So, please pay a visit to 50skatekid.com and become a sponsor, buy some merch or check out the map to find out when they're coming to YOUR city buy them lunch. 

After all, this is how we help independent bands on tour... why not a 6th grader on a mission?