For Dominic Ruiz, graduation is not the finish line. Dominic, a senior at CAST Tech High School, is an avid skateboarder and wants to apply the courses he has taken to his passion outside the classroom:
“It’s one thing to skateboard, but it’s another thing to look at it as a business, and what other possibilities could there be to making it not only [about] just skating, but other ways to branch [out].”
Dominic has attended CAST Tech since he was a freshman. When he noticed that CAST Tech allowed for skateboards in designated areas, this made Dominic curious to learn how to skate, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Long-term, Dominic wants to develop his own brand and even own a skate shop. He also knows that his education at CAST has helped open his eyes to these new possibilities:
“[CAST helped me look at business] in a different perspective, and not looking at it as just business and ‘this is exactly what it could be’ – it could be a numerous amount of things. It all branches…and you can all tie it together to just be a business, or you can look at it as building a community and helping people.”
Dominic has big plans for his brand, and he’s eager to get big enough to where he can give back to his community in San Antonio:
“I eventually want my brand to be nation-wide where it’s like DGK where we go out to different places in Texas or San Antonio and give out free boards to lower income areas; that way if someone has a chance to fall in love with skateboarding, it’s able to…help them be something more than what they know…”
