Persistence Pays Off

Kathie Stilinovich and Ilse Vallejos, our Pre-Kindergarten teachers, wrote the following intro and gathered quotes from our students about the Learn to Skate experience.

Learning to skate for the Pre-Kindergarten class is an introduction to the winter outdoor education program. Over the four weeks of classes, the students gain confidence in themselves and their ability to do something that might frighten them. With each passing lesson, we can see the students feel more courageous and find success in trying something new. Skating also gives them the experience in mastering something that is hard at first and teaches them to be persistent and not give up. Whether in our traditional classroom, the outdoors, or the skating rink, we encourage all of our students to be risk takers.

The following are quotes from a few students:

Dev: I love skating. We drum on the walls and then we blast off. It
was awesome. I fell but I got back up. I was strong.

Martin: Skating is fun. I fall down because it is funny. Sometimes you
just laugh about it cause it just happens. Then you get back up and
keep on skating.

Raya: Skating is fun because I can now ice skate well. The teacher
taught me how.

Alanis: I like to ice skate. I am not scared. Everyone is there.

Pete: I like to move on the ice. I like the teachers. They are fun.

Ben: I tried skating so now I am not scared. Skating is really fun.
You get to skate all around. You get to learn how to ice skate.