Community Engagment.
At Vail Performance Academy, service and leadership go hand in hand. Our students engage in meaningful community projects throughout the year, including an annual service trip supporting Haitian immigrants in the Bahamas, monthly community dinners, local sporting events like the Bindu Rail Jam and 5K, and sustainability-focused capital projects such as solar lighting for a local rail park. We also support the Minturn Community Gardens, encouraging environmental stewardship and hands-on learning through agriculture. Learning to help others is a critical component of our instruction and a foundation of what it means to be a good human.
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Rail Jam
The rail garden at Maloit Park in Minturn has revolutionized the development of Ski and Snowboard Club Vail freeski and snowboard athletes ever since director Chris Laske built it six years ago. Last month, the venue showcased SSCV’s talent — and the spirit of late Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy teacher Bindu Sky Pomeroy, who died snowboarding in the East Vail backcountry in 2018 — at the inaugural Bindu and Friends Rail Jam.
“It’s quite amazing to see how far it’s come,” Laske said of his park, which went from a couple features in its infancy to more than 20 — plus a rope tow — today.
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Film Night
“The kids like to say that Bindu loved skiing more than any of the kids that come to this elite school for skiing or snowboarding. He would get two or three East Vail laps every single day before school,” said Sam Bennett, fellow Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy teacher. “They like to remember that he would show up, maybe late for class, covered in snow, because he was out pursuing his passion.”
In school, students were drawn to Pomeroy’s affect.
“He just had this beautiful smile and calmness and agreeable disposition that really brought kids in. They felt very close to him,” Bennett said. “Many alumni would stay in contact with him. And when they were challenged with something in life or struggling, Bindu would be a mentor for them.”
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Music Festival
The first Bindu Beats and Brews celebratory event will gather community members for a day of physical and mental wellness. The event is set for Memorial Day on Monday, May 26, in Minturn’s Maloit Park.
Bindu Beats and Brews raises funds for the Bindu Sky Memorial Fund, which preserves and honors the legacy of Bindu Pomeroy. Pomeroy, a Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy teacher, died in a snowboarding accident in East Vail in November 2018.
The memorial fund supports local student athletes pursuing their passion and brings community members together over events like the film night and spirit awards and the Bindu and Friends Rail Jam.