BY KEELIN EVERLY-LANG for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 11/13/26
Anyone who has ever tried to learn to skateboard knows that failing is part of the process. At Alchemy Skateboarding in Tacoma, they expand this idea to embrace young people who have made mistakes through their diversion program.
Alchemy is an indoor skate park and skate shop in Downtown Tacoma that also offers several youth programs that develop leadership and provide opportunities for alternatives to incarceration for young people who are dealing with the court system.
“Part of being a young person is failing a whole bunch, figuring it out, and making mistakes … I’ve always thought that with skating, failure is very intrinsically part of the process. You have to fall, you have to fail to figure stuff out,” Alchemy Skateboarding Program Director Travis Stull told Weekly Volcano.
From Stull’s perspective, what makes the difference is when young people have the opportunity to fail in a safe and supportive environment where they can learn from those mistakes.
The Making, Exploring, Thriving and Learning Skateboarding (METALS) program started with a board building program, and it has expanded over time. In today’s version of METALS, participants earn a $15 salary each day over the course of 10 weeks.
During that time, they press, shape, and design their own skateboard from scratch.
“We have a vinyl cutter, so the graphics have gotten a lot better … it’s much easier to do a vinyl stencil when before we were having them cut paper stencils if they wanted to do something, so it really has opened up a world of really cool production,” Stull said.
At the end of that 10 weeks, they can use that $150 they’ve earned to build out a complete skateboard and have access to what Stull called “micro mobility.”
They also have something on their resume: experience with some important job skills and a community space that they can choose to continue connecting with in the future.
One thing Stull has been focused on lately is ensuring that there are easy pathways for participants in all their programs to take on more responsibility or connect more with the community.
Alchemy is in the third year of hosting its Skateboarding and Leadership Team (SALT). Previous years included 9-month cohorts, but they’ve since adjusted them to a shortened 6 weeks. These now tie in more smoothly with the METALS program, so young people who complete that program and want to keep going can join the leadership cohort.
SALT has four different focuses in these cohorts: graphic design and printmaking, board building, advocacy and education, and volunteering and event programming.
With all their programming, Stull said he makes sure instructors remember that not every kid is going to click with skateboarding. The important thing is to provide opportunities for young people to find the things that they can really engage with.
Whether that is art, skateboarding, theater, or activism, thereare so many different rabbit holes that young people can get into that “provide opportunities for them to learn and grow and maybe not get sucked into situations where they fail without a safety net,” Stull said.
At the end of the day, Stull said “all programming is violence prevention.”
He also pointed out the positive impact of both trusted adults and a broader community that includes peers who can act as a layer of accountability.
“I think passionate and trusted adults are a big part of that process. But I also think having a community around you that holds you accountable to your actions is a big part of that as well,” Stull said.
In their programs, Alchemy Skateboarding has community agreements that help define these community norms and expectations, and involve participants in the process of defining those agreements.
There are also a lot of ways for community members who are not in one of those specific programs to engage and enjoy the space.
This time of year when rain can make the city’s other skate parks a little less accessible, Alchemy is a big draw as the only indoor skate park in the city.
Walk-in skate sessions are available every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. You can book ahead and earn points on the Alchemy app.
There is also the beginner class every Saturday, where there will be helpful pros on deck to help you get your confidence or master a particularly difficult trick.
Alchemy has been part of changing the culture around skateboarding throughout Tacoma. On its website, Alchemy shares that the work done as part of this advocacy was part of why they started focusing on youth.
“During our first Go Skate Tacoma event in 2011, we circulated a survey and found out that over half of the skaters in attendance had dropped out of high school,” according to the website.” This was the catalyst that started Alchemy. We know that skaters are incredibly intelligent, creative, and athletic, and yet so many of them were disengaged with their schools and communities.”
Since that time, Alchemy has continued to refine and expand how it accomplishes this goal of engaging and inspiring youth to have a community and to connect in positive ways.
