Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 8, 2008|Volume 36, Number 17

Yale junior Katie Earle (in blue sweatshirt) helps the youngsters learn to balance themselves on
one leg.

Yale librarian and skater passes on
her passion to local youngsters

Wexler/Grant Community School fourth-grader Shauntasia Hicks thinks she has a shot at being as good a figure skater as her favorite Olympic champion, Kristi Yamaguchi.

But for now, just learning the basics of the sport at Yale’s Ingalls Rink is enough to make her feel like a figure skating diva.

During a recent class there, Hicks showed off her new ability to spin, smiling proudly afterwards as she glided over the ice while holding the hand of Yale law librarian Bonnie Collier.

“She does have talent,” Collier says of Hicks after the class, adding that the young girl’s natural ability just needs some nurturing.

Collier has an eye for seeing such talent: An accomplished figure skater who competed regionally in her earlier years, she has also been an ice dancer and judge for prestigious figure-skating competitions. Her own love of the sport of skating — and her desire to share that passion with others — led her to launch last year the Yale-Wexler Grant Skating Program, where Hicks is getting the encouragement she needs to further develop her skills.

Anatasia Shortridge, Shauntasia Hicks and Bonnie Collier take a minute to pose on the ice during a recent skating session at Ingalls Rink.

“I’ve been a skater all my life but before last year, I had never done anything specifically for other skaters,” explains Collier. “The Wexler/Grant Community School is very near Ingalls Rink, in a community that is struggling, and it just seemed that having the school kids learn to skate at a rink they might not otherwise visit could be a nice activity for them.”

Collier called Yale’s Department of Athletics, which donated an hour of weekly rink time to the program, and, with a small fund from donations and her own contribution, she visited local skate shops in search of used skates for the children. She also purchased helmets for the beginning skaters.

In its first year, more than 20 third-grade students from Wexler/Grant joined the program as an after-school activity. They were taught the basics of figure skating by some eight volunteers, including Yale undergraduates who are skaters, former hockey players and three professional skating teachers. The program ran for six weeks in the fall and six weeks in the spring. Most of the children took part for the entire year.

“Every Wednesday afternoon, the kids burst into the rink, so excited to get onto the ice,” says the Yale librarian. “While we struggled a bit in our first year because of limited funds, we got a surprise anonymous donation this year of $3,000, which allowed me to pay the professional teachers.”

In addition to Yale students, Collier also enlisted the volunteer support of skaters in the Yale Figure Skating Club, of which she is a member. Dr. Martina Brueckner, associate professor of cardiology (pediatrics), is among those in the group who volunteer to teach the New Haven schoolchildren. The Yale physician, who learned to skate at the age of 35 and is now a regular on the ice at Ingalls Rink, says the program benefits the children in numerous ways.

“They are exposed to a sport that they are unlikely to experience otherwise,” comments Brueckner. “They get exercise while having fun, develop some confidence from learning something new, and maybe develop a skill which they can use to enjoy active lifelong sports participation.

“In my ‘real life,’ I am a pediatric cardiologist,” she adds, “and am seeing more and more kids who are obese and out-of-shape because they don’t have many options for fun, non-competitive activity. Maybe this program can provide that sort of thing for the Wexler kids.”

This year, some 25 children, including returning fourth-graders and a new crop of third-graders, join together for the afternoon skating practice at Ingalls Rink.

“The kids love it,” says Nicole Sanders, a math coach at Wexler-Grant. “It’s amazing to see how far they have progressed in such a short time. It gives them something different to do than the usual after-school enrichment programs.”

Observing a recent skating session at Ingalls, Sanders says some of the children “behave entirely different on the ice than they do at school.”

“Skating requires different talent and there are different expectations of the kids,” the math coach says. “Kids who have trouble focusing in the classroom might be entirely focused on what they are doing on the ice. So we made a decision not to tie in a child’s school behavior with whether or not they can skate that day. If you have a bad day at school, you can still come skating.”

“This is my favorite part of the school day,” says fourth-grader Tirrell Bentley at the same skating session. He started the program last year and now participates along with his sister, third-grader Tahira Bentley.

School of Music student Alma Liebrecht works with Ruby Jones on her backward moves.

“I joined because I knew the rules to play hockey but I didn’t know how to skate,” says Tirrell. “When I’m older, I want to be either a hockey player or a football player. Right now I’m working on skating backwards and on getting my speed up.”

His classmate, Tariq Antrum, says that one of the best aspects of being in the program is that everyone starts out with no experience, and they learn together.

“I keep on fighting so I won’t fall on the ice,” says Antrum while enjoying a snack with his school peers after a skating lesson. “I’m getting better. Today I fell about five times. But I’m not embarrassed because I’m not the only one who falls. Everybody falls.”

Adds third-grade student Dania Dozier, “It’s okay if you fall, because everybody helps you out.”

Elizabeth Ludwig, a Yale sophomore who volunteers as an instructor in the program, says that the Wexler/Grant students are at the perfect age to learn how to skate. “Starting them this young is a huge bonus because they learn quickly due to their enthusiasm and their minimal fear of falling,” comments Ludwig, who was a competitive figure skater as a child before devoting her attention to playing ice hockey in high school.

“The program also builds confidence both on and off the ice,” she adds. “The kids see that if they apply themselves to an activity, they can achieve a tangible goal, which I believe fosters a willingness to try new things and a ‘stick with it’ attitude. Plus, the kids really enjoy themselves on the ice, which is why they’re out there to begin with.”

Collier agrees that the boost in self-confidence the youngsters gain through the skating program can spill over into other areas of their lives.

“It’s great for their self-esteem,” Collier says. “Maybe one of them will say: “Wow, I can skate — so maybe I can do math too.”

Annalese Duncan, a teacher’s aide at Wexler/Grant School, says that she has seen an improved attitude in many of the students who take part in the skating program.

“They really look forward to coming and putting on their skates and wearing their T-shirts,” she says. (Each participant is given a T-shirt emblazoned with Yale-Wexler/Grant Skating Program across the front.) “They develop pride through the trial-and-error experience they have on the ice.”

Collier, who has been a librarian at Yale for 35 years (first as a reference librarian at Sterling Library and now as an associate librarian for administration at the Law Library), is confident that “there’s a future Olympian” in the group of Wexler/Grant ice skaters.

“The first time on the ice, some of them can’t move,” she says. “One of the kids once said: ‘Do they wax this stuff? It’s so slippery!’ But in a matter of weeks, they are all zipping around with their friends. It’s amazing, seeing their progression.”

Collier is grateful for the support she has received from volunteer skating instructors and others to make the program possible. Ingalls rink manager Joe Snecinski, for example, lent one of the bigger Wexler/

Grant students his own skates because Collier didn’t have a large enough size for him.

As skating novice Hicks dreams of a day she can perform flying spins and axels like Yamaguchi, she is also realistic about the kind of dedication such achievements require.

“I know you have to practice for hours and hours,” says the fourth-grader. “I don’t have a problem with that. Practice makes perfect.”

Individuals interested in volunteering for or contributing to the Yale-Wexler/Grant Skating Program can contact Bonnie Collier.

— By Susan Gonzalez

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