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WORLAND - Professional athlete and extreme BMX bicyclist Kurtis Downs brought two friends with him to Worland last Wednesday, Feb. 23, to entertain and inspire Worland Middle School students.

Downs, who grew up in Firth, Idaho (population 510 in 2020 census) has won a bronze in the BMX Big Air event during the 2017 X Games. He won a silver at the 2016 Nitro World Games in the BMX Best Tricks event.

He said he was coming through the area and like Woralnd so he called a friend in Cody telling her he wanted to bring his show and message to Worland. The friend got in touch with WMS Principal Ryan Clark. Clark then called Downs.

Clark told students at the presentation that the conversation went like this, "'Dude, my name's Kurtis Downs and I'd like to come to your school. I was like me, 'uh, I'm Mr. Clark and I talk like an older white guy. I can't even understand your language but you sound cooler than me so yea man and come and do this.'"

INSPIRATION

Downs said he likes to visit smaller schools when he can because he came from a small town and a small school. He wants students to know that it does not matter where you come from you can achieve big dreams. Competing as an extreme BMX bicyclist for the Nitro Circus has taken Downs around the world including Australia, Asia, Saudia Arabia and Europe.

Bethers delivered an inspirational message about each student using their natural energy and finding what they are passionate about. The message was delivered while Downs and Downs' friend Thomas Brooks performed stunts behind him.

Bethers told the students, as Brooks and Downs kept jumping higher and higher on the ramps, "That's the kind of high we're here sharing with you today, 100% natural, 100% drug free. We're not out here telling you guys to jump on bicycles and try stunts, that's not what this show is about.

"What we do want to do is encourage each one of you to find those things in your life that you love to do. It doesn't matter what it is."

He said he was passionate about BMX bikes and math. His profession allows him to fulfill both passions, building ramps for extreme BMX bicyclists. He designs and builds ramps of all sizes, including the small ramps used inside the WMS Gym for the Feb. 23 demonstration.

"My favorite thing about building ramps is a thing called radius," Bethers said, going on to describe the height and radius of each ramp being used. "All of these things become very important. When you get into the parts of it you're talking about the physics, trajectories, angles, exit angles, parabolic paths. I'd be happy to talk about any and all of those things because I'm a big fan, a big geek of math and you learn that right where you're sitting."

He added, "If you have something you are passionate about, even if it is bikes, you don't have to ride bikes to be a part of it. You could write for magazines, you could be videographer, you could be somebody who builds ramps, too.

"When you find something you are passionate about there is a way to do it for the rest of your life."

Clark said initially Downs contacted him before Christmas but there was not enough time to make it happen with Downs' schedule at that time. He said Downs then contacted him about two weeks ago and they were able schedule the event for Wednesday, Feb. 23.

"I did not know the message they were going to bring. What made me want to bring them is that we have been talking about extreme behaviors and being extremely positive inside the community as well as inside the school. That's not often how middle schoolers are viewed in our community, so trying to change that perception," Clark said.

He said they have been presenting that message through the "Olympics" they have had at the middle school during the same time as the regular Olympics. He said he felt that the event tied into the message of being extremely positive.

Another reason he wanted to bring the event to the school is that "our students work really hard. They have done a very good job in school and it's OK to have some fun in school. We gave up four minutes of instruction in each class to have that presentation."

Students had the opportunity to ask questions, with most questions centering on the types of and difficulty of tricks performed. Downs, Brooks and Bethers stayed after to sign autographs for students.

Downs said his most difficult trick that took five years to perfect and he suffered multiple injuries including three concussions was a backflip quad tailwhip, which he performed when he won the silver in the 2016 Nitro World Games.

As for the perception afterward from the student body, Clark said, "I rarely get thanked in the middle school as a principal and I had more thank-yous after that than I think I have ever had before. That goes two-fold, one is that we talk about how we want to act and by using our manners, telling people thank you. I was very pleased with that. And two, I think they really, really enjoyed it and it was a thank you for bringing it in."

He said Wednesday turned out to be the perfect day as the students had been inside for the past few days due to the extreme cold weather. "It was wonderful to have that break," Clark said.