High Desert DEVO (HDD) is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization.
High Desert DEVO is a youth cycling club with a focus on equity and mentorship that empowers youth on the trails in Montezuma County. Designed to reach youth at a crucial stage in personal growth, fostering positive self-talk and healthy core values to become confident, healthier, more connected young people. At High Desert DEVO we emphasize the importance of connecting physical activity with mental health in our mentorship programs. High Desert DEVO prioritizes creating a safe space that encourages individuality, personal growth, and fun.
Mentorship: We believe the investment in youth today will bear fruit in the developed leaders for the community tomorrow. Benefits of mentorship have included: positive academic outcomes, healthier relationships and lifestyle choices, better attitudes at school and home, enhanced self-esteem, self-confidence, improved interpersonal skills, and a lower likelihood of initiating drug and alcohol use.
Our coaches’ number one priority is positive youth development through mentorship in the outdoors. They attend training focused on positive youth development, bike skills, and first aid. Understanding the value of practice, HDD youth mentorship program provides the opportunity for students to sign up as a youth mentor, allowing them to ride along with younger groups and develop their own leadership and mentoring capacity. This experience as a mentor has shown to give students a sense of accomplishment, an opportunity to exercise their emotional intelligence, and the ability to improve on the lessons they are currently learning.
Importance of outdoor play!
Do you remember the times in recess or knocking on your neighbors’ door to play outside? Now more than ever, students have increasingly more pressure on them in school and more distractions with TV and video games leaving them with less time to get outside. Studies have shown the benefits of outdoor play for the brain development of young children. We understand the importance of giving kids the space where they can, simply, be a kid. As we are having fun on the trails they will learn about their peers, themselves, and the world we get to play in.
BOARD MEMBERS
Teresa Ditore - President
Open -Vice President
Heather Ireland - Treasurer
Open - Secretary
Sabrina Kraushaar - Board Member
Jesse Parks - Board Member
Nic McDonald - Board Member
Austin Easter - Board Member
AKA Race Wesss, has been with us since 2018. He started cycling as a way to get around campus in college and the realized mountain biking was way more fun than all the other traditional sports he played growing up! A full time Special Education teacher and Transitions Coordinator at Montezuma Cortez High School, seasonal wrench hand at Kokopelli Bike and Board in the summer, Coach Trainer for the high school Colorado MTB league, and the wrangler of the Montezuma Composite high school team he stays busy all year long!
Chase Wesley - Program Director
Ed grew up in upstate New York, and has lived in SW Colorado for the last 19 years. He spent many years traveling around the world and the U.S. with a bike and/or a backpack, along the way always finding himself involved in developmental youth programs and school related work. His most recent career experience has been as a high school teacher for 10 years in LaPlata & Montezuma Counties, and then Project Based Learning Director and Middle/High School Principal for the Mancos School District for 5 years. Ed has had a passion for two-wheeled adventure since his youth, whether on a dirt bike, a BMX rig, a touring setup, or any other form of a cycle that gets him out into the wild. He is the proud father of two sons, Sidney and Angus, and the loving husband of his wife, Fairlight. He spends as much time as possible on the trails and in the mountains, mostly on his mountain bike, testing the limits of speed and good judgment. He is proud to be part of the High Desert DEVO family, and looks forward to years of service to this community.
Ed Whritner - Executive Director
