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Page 20 NEWFOUNDLAKELIFE.COM November 2025 Community Mount Prospect Academy Dirt Bike Rodeo
By Donna RhoDes
RUMNEY—On Oct. 4th, stu- dents from three Mount Prospect Academy schools in New Hamp- shire gathered at their Career De- velopment Center in Rumney to participate in the fourth annual Dirt Bike Rodeo.
Participating for the first time in the event were three girls from MPA’s Hampton Squamscott River Academy campus who joined a dozen or more male students from Mount Prospect Academy and the Karen Lang- ley Learning School in Plymouth. While the male students have taken part in the dirt biking pro- gram for four years, the girls from Hampton just learned to ride a dirt bike six weeks ago, presenting them with a real challenge in their first-ever rodeo.
“This has been pretty cool. None of us had ever even sat on a dirt bike before,” said Jasmine, one of the participants.
Their Squamscott River Acad- emy instructor, Chris, said he was proud of them.
“This is the first group of girls to take part in the program. They’ve been coming up here every Friday since the end of July to learn how to ride,” he said. “Now today they
Students from three Mount Prospect Academy campuses participated in the fourth annual Dirt Bike Rodeo on Oct. 4th. At the end of the day, top competitors and their instructors were pleased to display the ribbons and awards they had won. Photo by Donna Rhodes
the students and their families now look forward to it each fall.
Jay Marshall, Head of School for all of the New Hampshire MPA locations, was proud as he watched the students not only per- form well on the course but also congratulate each other as they anxiously awaited the awards pre- sentation at the end of the day.
“The awards are a terrific op- portunity for the kids to feel great about themselves and all they’ve accomplished,” he said.
Blue, red, yellow, and white ribbons were passed out to top team performers in the first few features of the rodeo. While the boys did extremely well in most of them, the three girls from Hamp- ton had their moments to shine, too. Between Jasmine, Jenna, and Kaydence, they took home several ribbons, including a first-place blue ribbon Kaydence won in one of the events.
Special awards this year were also presented to the three girls who competed. The Legacy Award from the New Hampshire Youth Program for Motorsports congratulated them on being the first young women to participate in the NHYPM Rodeo, trailblaz- ing the way for others in the future.
“NHYPM is proud of you and the courage you have displayed,” it read.
Two other special awards were presented at the end of the day. The Overall Performance Award went to Korbyn from the Plym- outh campus for his skills, support for his classmates and the lead- ership he has shown within the group. Paul also took home the Alan Wolfman Tucker Sportsman- ship Award, a distinguished recog- nition presented each year for a student who displays outstanding sportsmanship in the competition.
competed against guys who have a lot more experience than them.” The event allowed all partic- ipants to show off their skills and test them in competition. Events for the day included team com- petitions for the Barrel Race, Hay Bale Race, and Slow Race. Finally, a Trials Course competition was held where each rider was timed individually as they manipulated the tricky course. In that challenge, each participant had to manipu- late berms and log bumps, a hill, a counter-balance section, a Stop
and Go challenge, and some tricky S-turns. Each of those course fea- tures tested them on the skills they have learned in their classes. The fastest rider to successfully com- plete the course was the winner.
The dirt bike classes aren’t of- fered to all students at MPA; they have to earn the privilege of en- rolling and can lose that privilege if they don’t follow rules within the school. Because of the require- ments for the course, students have been shown to make a difference in their studies and behavior, and even improve their leadership skills.
Jasmine said she has really en- joyed the opportunity to partici- pate and noted she wouldn’t have been able to learn these skills in a public school.
“It’s been really fun and we’ve been able to help each other out over these past six weeks,” she said.
Not only that, but at 16 years old, it has also given her some safety and driving skills that will be useful when she takes her driving test soon.
“I think I did pretty well, but I have to admit I was pretty nervous out there today, though,” she said
with a laugh.
Moms were happy with the
class as well. Nici said her son did well in the rodeo this year, with even his classmates praising him.
“I love it! This is Korbyn’s fa- vorite thing to do, and it makes him so proud of himself,” she said.
Another mom said her son first entered the school’s automotive program, but when he switched to the dirt bike classes, she found he was much happier.
“He always wanted to do this, and I think he has done much better with his time management since he started,” she said.
Plymouth’s Mount Prospect Academy principal Mike Sulli- van said the annual rodeo is re- ally a school community event where participants learn a lot in the weeks leading up to the event. In their classes they practice safe braking, speed control and even hand signals, vital while riding bikes with no turn signals. And when they show they can do all that, they are elevated to trail rid- ing around the woods surrounding the CDC campus.
Sullivan said the rodeo has grown over the past few years, and
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