Speedskating Goes Back to School

Yesterday I had the extreme pleasure of going back to the second grade and sharing my own version of Speedskating Show and Tell. 

Kids at this age are so eager to learn. They are full of wonder and soak everything in like little sponges. Knowledge is still exciting.

I was asked to come to this class to share information on speedskating and the Olympics and I have to admit, I was a little nervous going in. Second graders are eager to learn, but they are also a tough audience. If you don't know what you are talking about, they will smell the fear and eat you alive with questions.

I started by placing photos of a long track team pursuit (featuring the Italian Team) and a short track race (featuring Apolo Ohno).  We made our way through what differences they could see between the two pictures. When we finished with the comparisons, I pointed to Apolo and asked the class "Do you know who this is?" In unison "Nooooooooo." I had my work cut out for me.

I thought it would be a great idea to bring my gear with me so the kids could have something tangible to go with what they saw in the pictures and were hearing with my words. I passed around both a long track skinsuit, pointing out the hood and then a short track skin pulling half the suit inside out so they could see the cut proof material sewn in. They liked knocking on my helmet and ooh-ed over the pirate sticker that is stuck to the front. I then passed around my Marchese short track boots with "Whoa's!"  and then the long track boots where they enjoyed clapping the blade with giggles. I shared different medals that I have earned and started asking them questions about the Olympics.

We talked about Lake Placid (host to two Winter Olympic Games, 1932 and 1980) and tied in local talent Trevor Marsicano. We played a few YouTube videos of Trevor skating long track and Apolo skating short track. The buzz grew in the classroom to a fever pitch and it was great! One student came up to me and in a whisper said "I am Soooooooo glad you are here!"

In wrapping up I asked the kids to send their "Good Luck" message to Team USA and of course they obliged! The only problem with this was me being technologically challenged. I had my phone video set to the wrong setting, leaving the file too large to pass along to Trevor. So, it is saved for when he returns from Vancouver and I will play it for him.

The room was preparing to go to gym and the greatest thing happened; the entire class suddenly dropped into a squat and low walked their way down the hall!

Olympic fans are definitely evident in second grade and who knows, maybe a seed of inspiration was planted and a future speedskater will be making their way to the ice.