The scene in the gym classes at Lake Forest South Elementary was a bit out of the ordinary Jan. 8 as dodge balls and jump ropes were replaced with ice skates.
The odd part was that the venue for the class remained the same, as the school’s gym was transformed into a makeshift ice rink.
South invited representatives from the Centre Ice Rink at the Delaware State Fair to come in and run the gym classes at the school from Jan. 8 to 15, using their synthetic ice surface and bringing in rental skates to teach the children how to ice skate.
New rink manager Jeff Grable said when he realized he had the synthetic ice — which is basically just hard plastic sprayed with a solution that simulates an ice surface — he wanted to reach out to area schools and promote a learn-to-skate program for gym classes.
Grable knew South principal Dr. Bridget Amory as her daughter figure skates at the rink, so the Lake Forest school seemed like a logical starting point.
“I needed a safe place to start it, so if we had any problems, I’d be with someone who was supportive of it,” he said.
The class allowed students to get a feel for ice skating, learning the basic techniques involved in doing so.
Amory said when Grable approached her with the idea of taking over gym classes for a week it made sense on several levels.
For the first time, the district is participating in the Nemours Carol M. White Physical Education Program Grant, which challenges schools to create 150 hours of physical activity per week.
By introducing ice-skating to her students, Amory said the school was able to take a fresh approach to the program halfway through the year.
“We’re looking for any innovative way to get our kids moving,” she said.
Another reason Amory liked the idea was because she is trying to inspire a sense of pride and support for businesses in the community.
“We’re really trying to promote community awareness and really trying to support the organizations right here in our community,” Amory said. “The ice-skating rink is under-utilized.”
Grable said by introducing area children to skating he hoped they would start to frequent the rinks’ skating sessions and possibly take up figure skating or ice hockey.
For just that reason, Grable is keeping the in-school skating classes as a free service for any interested school.
He’s already gotten some calls from other schools in the Lake Forest district that are interested, but said he’s not limiting the classes to just that district.
Lake Forest Superintendent Dr. Daniel Curry said following Grable’s first class with a group of 20 first graders that it is nice to offer something to the students they may not have ever experienced before.
“We saw the kids smile today and for many of them, they’re experiencing something for the first time and that’s something you hope to do for them at school is introduce them to some things they wouldn’t get to do otherwise,” Curry said.
He added that the classes inspire the students to take an interest in skating and start paying some visits to the Harrington rink.
“What a great opportunity when something like this is in their back yard,” Curry said. “They can go to the Harrington rink and build upon what they learned here and maybe make it a family activity.”
Email Brian Citino at brian.citino@doverpost.com
