The students rushed into a Mt. Bachelor yurt Sunday afternoon, bundled against the snow and wind whipping around the mountain.

Many of the nearly 20 students had begun skiing or snowboarding this winter, but they already looked like confident veterans as they waited for the SOS Outreach graduation ceremony to begin.

SOS Outreach is a nonprofit founded in Colorado but active at Mt. Bachelor for about five years. The program is devoted to helping children who would not normally have the opportunity to ski or snowboard, according to Lori LaBissoniere, the program coordinator.

Sunday’s students were chosen for the program from Cascade Middle School, Cascade Youth and Family Center and Tamarack School.

One child’s family may not be able to fund the sport, while another child may have parents too ill to take him or her to the mountain.

Sunday was the last of five days the group spent at Mt. Bachelor, and it was a chance for LaBissoniere to reinforce the program’s “core values: wisdom, discipline, integrity, courage and compassion.”

“(The students) get to graduate and feel a sense of accomplishment,” LaBissoniere said.

Sam Hansen, 13, spent the program skiing, though he’d have preferred to snowboard. His mother, Leah Hansen, said she was more familiar with skiing and compromised with her son for this year.

“I’m going to snowboard next winter,” Sam said.

During the 45-minute graduation ceremony, the students snacked on pizza, hot chocolate and licorice. Each student was called to the front of the yurt to receive a certificate, and a teacher spoke about how each had improved over the course of the program.

Though he had never skied before, Sam was quick to learn the sport, said Brad Hinman, a Tamarack teacher.

“Sam said, ‘Where’s the hardest trail around here?’” Hinman told the crowd.

Thirteen-year-old Jazmine Hicks said she had never skied before, but she loved the experience. Jazmine’s mother said her daughter had a new confidence after the winter program.

Jazmine also hopes to keep skiing at the mountain.

“I was frightened the first time I came up here. Then I was excited to come here,” she said.

Toward the end of the ceremony, LaBissoniere reminded the group that they had done something difficult. Each had overcome apprehensions and watched out for their fellow students. They had sometimes gotten frustrated, but here they were at the graduation.

“It’s really easy to get down when you’re learning something new,” she said.

But not a single student looked defeated Sunday as each left the yurt a newly skilled skier or snowboarder.