During the Olympic Games last month, Procter & Gamble presented a $10,000 check to Squaw Valley native Julia Mancuso, who was fresh from winning a silver medal in women’s downhill and another in the women’s Olympic combined. Procter and Gamble, Crest & Oral-B recognized Mancuso as one of five Team USA Olympians for the “Smile with U.S.” campaign.

Mancuso has turned that check over to the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District.

“I achieved what I did at the Olympics in large part due to my childhood growing up in the Tahoe-Truckee region and all the programs I was allowed to be involved in,” Mancuso, who was a student of TTUSD, told the district. “Giving back in this way feels so good and is a small token of my appreciation for all the people who helped me along the way.”

Julia Mancuso

Mancuso asked for the funds to be earmarked for physical education and health. Besides skiing, Mancuso also suited up for the soccer and track teams at North Tahoe High School in Tahoe City.

Competing at the international level at such an early age made it difficult to maintain a normal high school schedule at Lake Tahoe and Mancuso ultimately landed at Park City where she attended the Winter Sports School. Mancuso’s young Tahoe-Truckee ski racing successors don’t have to move away to realize their dreams. Three years ago, TTUSD launched the North Tahoe Ski Academy.

Acknowledging the snow sports competitors’ often hectic travel schedules, the program allows students to schedule a portion of their course load at the high school, freeing them to train in the afternoons with the ski or snowboard team of their choice. Students then make up the balance of their required curriculum through independent study programs.