Surf Into Integrity Program instills life lessons in middle schoolers

The Ocean City Surf Club is making a difference at a local middle school with their unique Surf Into Integrity Program.

Imagine going to the beach for class – that is the sweet reality for several Stephen Decatur middle schoolers who are taking part in the afterschool program.

Aryavir Sangwan, a student involved with the program, said, "I saw surfing and I've always wanted to learn surfing, except I never found someone. I never found a professional who has that experience to teach me. When I saw it was run by the Ocean City Surfing Club, I knew that they're obviously professionals, so I could learn surfing from them."

Those students said the lessons they are learning out on the water are overflowing into their daily lives.

Sangwan said, "It was very interesting in fact to see how surfing, which is a sport, actually relates to your every day life."

Rich Brueckner, the founder of Surf Into Integrity, said he was inspired to create the program after spending years in a tough line of work.

Brueckner said, "I've been a gang and narcotics prosecutor for about 9 and a half years and over those years, I've watched an increasing number of high school students be charged with serious crimes that affect them the rest of their life."

Preteens tend to be very impressionable, and that is largely why Brueckner brought this program to Stephen Decatur Middle School.

Brueckner said, "Seventh and Eighth graders are the perfect age to help form some of those fundamental values, some of that fundamental core morality and this seemed to be the right time to make a difference in our kids and in the communities lives."

Overall, everyone involved, volunteers and students alike, say they are stoked to be taking part in such a life changing program.

Tommy Vach, a member of the Ocean City Surf Club, said, "We're really happy that we can encourage them to get into the sport of surfing and then also teach them some valuable life lessons that can stay with them the rest of their lives."

If you're interested in learning more about the Ocean City Surf Club, you can visit their website at OCSurfClub.org