Board N' School.. SUCCESS

This past weekend - April 19-21, 2013 - saw the opening of the Oasis Skateboard Factory (OSF) and Roarockit Skateboard Companies first ever skateboard art auction!  The event helped launch Roarockit's new Lil' Rockit builder kit, and raised money for the school by having some of Toronto's finest artists do graphics on 19 hand built boards.

In preparation of the show, each student paired up with a different artist and taught them how to build their own board using the Thin Air Press vacuum bag system.  After working on the construction, each pair designed an image that incorporated the "Board N' School" theme to apply to the bottom of the deck. Artist's then took their boards home and brought the vision to life!

Left: John Marriott pours the glue - Right: Zanette Singh goes over board designs

Artist and Student Collaborated Board Designs

Friday, April 19th - the grand opening party at the Gladstone Hotel's Art Bar. The Roarockit crew arrived early that morning and worked with the OSF students to help set up the show, which included a giant 'Handmade with Roarockit Technology' sign that the kids had made earlier that week in class. 

ROCK's OSF Mural Club use math to create the 'Roarockit Technology' sign

Lauren puts the finishing touches on the chalkboard displays.

Craig Morrison addresses the troops before the start of the show.

The night was filled with great vibes, familiar faces and an overwhelming sense of pride that could be felt from the students as they talked about their innovative program, all whilst keeping a watchful eye on their board's rising bids... they even brought out some of their signature 'Hooky' boards to shred around the gallery!

Everyone had a great time at the opening, and almost all of the boards were bid on and won by some very generous and stoked individuals! We would like to thank everyone who came out to support the Oasis program and helped show these students what can be achieved with some hard work and planning.

Also, a BIG shout out goes to the Gladstone Hotel, all the artists involved, Lauren and Craig from the OSF...and whoever brought that cake that was chillin in the back! 

Everyone here at Roarockit also deserves a bit of a pat on the back as well ;)

Check out our Facebook page for more photos of the event and the work leading up to it as well.

Board N' School Art Auction

The Oasis Skateboard Factory & Roarockit Skateboard Company Present: Board n' School - A Skateboard Art Show and Auction

Click on photo for the Facebook event page

Where: The Gladstone Hotel Art Bar 

1214 Queen St W - Toronto, ON

View Larger Map

When: Opening reception and silent auction Friday, April 19 7:00-9:00pm 

Exhibit April 19-21 

Friday April 19th sees the Gladstone host a retro mini-skateboard silent auction of rolling artworks by local artists in support of the Oasis Skateboard Factory (OSF), the world's only skateboard and street art design themed high school program. 

A variety of high- profile Toronto artists have partnered with OSF students to create original school-themed works of art on hand-crafted skateboards, and to celebrate the launch of Roarockit’s brand new “Lil' Rockit” skateboard kit, which Roarockit has generously donated for this event. These skateboard art collaborations will be displayed in the Art Bar at the Gladstone Hotel, a community-minded arts hub where design, art and activism intersect, from Friday April 19th through Sunday April 21st, 2013.

Students had the opportunity to teach high profile Toronto artists how to build skateboards by hand. In turn, students then got to collaborate with their artist mentor on a graphic for the board. Typically, OSF students are teenagers who have struggled to connect with high school but through our program focus on creative and entrepreneurial learning with ‘real world’ results they have seen incredible success. Local artist mentorships of students built on that success, exposing students to adult role models who work in the arts while giving them an opportunity to show off their final project in a legitimate gallery. All proceeds of the auction go towards expanding OSF’s innovative program of creative project- based learning and social enterprise. 

Mentoring artists include:

- Fiona Smyth

- Alex Currie (aka Runt)

- John Mariott

- Zanette Singh

- MonsterMeans Mark Byk

- Jimmy Chiale

- Christina Zeidler 

- Laura Wills

- ROCK

- Javid JAH

- Trevor Wheatley 

- Troy Pynn

- Lindsay Fisher

- Sue Cohen 

- Giles Monette

- SLURG

- Hamish from Picnicskate

- Zen Rankin

- Champstiles Woodburning

Opening reception and silent auction Friday, April 19 7:00-9:00pm 

Exhibit runs April 19-21

Post #SWAP6...Post

Another Swap Meet has come and gone, and we would like to thank everyone who came out and helped to make this the best one yet!

We witnessed some pretty amazing swaps go down, and it seems as though most people walked away happy with a bunch of new gear for the season ahead.

Also, a BIG 'thank you' goes out to all the sponsors, organizers and volunteers who helped make this event run smoothly and for spreading the stoke as only our community knows how.  

Here's a few photos from the event we are happy to share with you:

Ted visits Costco to get enough food for 500+ hungry skaters

Calm before the storm... setting up early for the long day ahead.Chris presents Michael Brooke with a custom burned Longboarding For Peace signStudents from the Oasis Skateboard Factory did a great job volunteeringLongboarding's In Your Heart and the boys from Joule Skateboards

Beautiful weather and sooo much gear!

Even some longboard inspired street art was going down!Alistair from AM Wood hyping up the crowd for a free board

So proud of everyone who donated to the 'Sliver From Your Quiver' programRob from Bombora Boards on the mic at the Post Swap PooperThanks to Jon Nuss for always taking great photos!

You can also check our Facebook page for a full gallery of photos taken from the event. 

Oasis Orientation 2013

This past Thursday (Feb.14th), the Roarockit Skateboard Company hosted the new and returning students from the Oasis Skateboard Factory at our 131 Sunrise Ave. location for the first time.  We had a great time meeting the new students, and it is always a pleasure to share our history and work space with these creative individuals.  

Together, Oasis and Roarockit have some big plans for this years intake. We look forward to collaborating on some great events, custom 'Dream Board' builds, and most importantly - helping these students graduate...Stay tuned!!

Here are a few pics from their visit:

Impossible to get a clear action shot of these kids devouring the pizza!Couple of great panoramic shots of the Roarockit tourNorah, Ted, Nico and Sarah introduce themselves and talk about the businessPizza Party!

Chris explains the CNC machine and how to keep the shop organizedMarcel shows his enthusiasm towards cleaning up

2012 Year In Review

We want to thank all of our schools, independent builders and fans of Roarockit Technology around the world, for the massive amount of stoke created by our shared passion for building skateboards! Our small team at Roarockit (and our extended Roarockit family) have worked really hard this past year to help bring the community some new innovation and quality to DIY board building.  

Looking back at this past year reminds us of all the new faces we've met, and the continued growth of our flagship programs.  We are proud of what we have accomplished, and are equally proud of what our customers have shared with us during the year as well.  

Here's a few highlights and examples of what have done together:

Setting up the new RockitLabs HQ was a HUGE task!

Marcel and Chris learned how to work together as a team... a well oiled/badass shipping duo!

We had some intense R&D sessions for the new new RockitRuler!

Introduced a bunch of new products and prices this year

Roarockit hosted the 5th Annual Swap Meet...SWAAAAPPP!!!

Rob from Bombora Boards had a baby!! Best of wishes to their new family:)

We laughed, we cried at the Oasis Skateboard Factory Graduation at Roarockit

Norah and Ted visited the Hana Builds board building class in Hawaii

Always proud to support the Toronto Board Meeting

Introduced board building to a bunch of new classrooms around the world

Roarockit visited CJ's Skatepark for a demo in front of a ton of stoked riders!

Proudly supported the AGO Free After Three program taught by the awesome Oasis students!

To celebrate our 10 year anniversary, we introduced our third preshaped veneer set... Lil' Rockit!

Welcomed FooARage and Australian Skateboard Kits as regional distributors of Roarockit Tech.

This is just a small sample of the events and projects we have been a part of this year.  It's truly been a blast!

On behalf of the Roarockit Team, we hope that everyone has a safe and happy holidays... and don't worry, we still have some tricks up our sleeve for 2013!!   

Week Long Build Sessions

Roarockit offers full-week building programs, designed for you to build your own dream board with one of our experienced instructors! 

There will be 5 seperate sessions held in our Professional Deck Making School, located at 880 Millwood Road in Toronto, over the next year.  

The Session Dates:

March Break - 2013

Monday March 11 to Friday March 15

9:00 am - 11:30 am (12.5 hours total)

July Summer Camp 1 - 2013

Monday July 8 to Friday July 12

9:00 am - 11:30 am (12.5 hours total)

July Summer Camp 2 - 2013

Monday July 29 to Friday August 2

9:00 am - 11:30 am (12.5 hours total)

August Summer Camp - 2013

Monday August 19 to Friday August 23

9:00 am - 11:30 am (12.5 hours total)

Choose to make a skate deck, pintail, top-mount speedboard, our new Lil' Rockit or a more advanced drop deck. With an experienced instructor to show you the steps and share all the builder’s tricks and tips, you will produce a seriously awesome board the very first time, and will be able to continue making boards with your new-found knowledge.

Using the best wood in the world for a skateboard (Canadian maple), you’ll learn how to laminate a 3 dimensional board in a Thin Air Press, finish it, design and apply your own graphics. Using Roarockit’s patented method, your quality board will be entirely hand-made, using the power of vacuum, no power tools required.

As there is drying time between many of the steps, skateboard building requires multiple sessions to complete the stages. Sessions are planned so that all the steps are completed by the end of the 5 day program, so attendance at all 5 days is required. Space is limited, so submit your application early to ensure your spot!

What’s included:

The materials and use of our tools to create a custom board. During the 5 sessions, you will prep sheets of Canadian maple, glue up and press them in a Thin Air Press, over a mold. You sand and finish the edges top and bottom, clear coat and apply your own graphics to finish up your board.

What’s not included:

Wheels and trucks, hardware or grip tape

Feel free to contact us for more information:

Phone 1-416-422-5487

Email - marcel@roarockit.com

Electronic Press Kit

We have put together a new downloadable Press Kit that media sources and potential partners can use for promotional purposes. It contains information about the Roarockit Skateboard Company, our History, Schools and Independent Builders, as well as our Environmental footprint and the Future of our business.

Requests from the media for interviews, comments or appearances by the Roarockit staff should be directed to President Norah Jackson

For broadcast television or radio content, call 1-888-857-7790 or email norah@roarockit.com

*High-resolution images available upon request.

About Roarockit

Roarockit offers the materials, tools and technology to make it possible for anyone, from beginner to expert, to design and build their own custom skateboards. 

Independent builders, Schools, After-School programs and Community groups around the world have used Roarockit's patented Thin Air Press technology to create custom boards for personal use, and sometimes even creating their own brands and businesses.

The Thin Air Press technology is also a woodworking tool for vacuum laminating, bending and veneering for fine furniture, drums, guitars, cabinetry and marquetry projects.

Follow Us on Social Media

Follow the Roarockit Skateboard Company on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for news, tutorials, events and promotion updates.

Reprinting Roarockit Photos and Articles

Requests for republication of Roarockit material must be made via email and should clearly state the purpose and manner in which the material will be used.  

Recent Releases 

Maui News - Award-winning program helps keiki build own skateboards

CBC News - Feature on the Oasis Skateboard Company using Roarockit Technology

Popular Woodworking - Thin Air Press furniture build from the Oct.2012 Issue #199