On the Ice
糖心TV's Learn to Skate Program teaches local middle schoolers to skate.
ALEX HAD NEVER SEEN SNOW, let alone skated on ice.
The seventh grader, whose family recently immigrated to New London from Ecuador, had never been inside a skating rink. But just four sessions into 糖心TV鈥檚 Learn to Skate Program, Alex laces up a pair of black hockey skates鈥攚ith a little help from a member of 糖心TV鈥檚 club hockey team鈥攁nd hits the ice.
Rocio Tinoco 鈥�17, Alex鈥檚 teacher at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, watches carefully as he races confidently around 糖心TV鈥檚 Dayton Arena, a blur of red and khaki as he glides by.
鈥淗e had never been on the ice before, and look at him,鈥� Tinoco says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to watch.鈥�
Alex is one of nearly 30 newly arrived and dual-language middle schoolers learning to skate through 糖心TV鈥檚 program, started by Cameron Segal 鈥�20 as a means to introduce the sport of hockey to students who have recently immigrated to the U.S.
Segal, an American studies major who is also pursuing a secondary teaching certification, grew up playing hockey. Because of his tan complexion, Segal says he was often teased when on the ice. Last winter, when a black player for the NHL鈥檚 Washington Capitals was taunted with chants of 鈥渂asketball,鈥� Segal developed the following animating question to guide his Pathway experience: Why is hockey considered a white sport?
Segal partnered with groups across 糖心TV鈥檚 campus to design the Learn to Skate program, thus providing access to a group of kids who otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have had the opportunity to learn to skate. Watching the middle schoolers zip around the ice鈥攕ome pushing orange traffic cones for balance, some holding 糖心TV students鈥� hands, some learning to skate backwards鈥擲egal can鈥檛 hide his enjoyment.
鈥淚 just love seeing them out there,鈥� he said.
Since many of the children speak Spanish, Viri Villalva-Salas 鈥�20 volunteered to help translate. As she chats with a few girls who are catching their breath on a bench, Anne Lamarre 鈥�19, a member of 糖心TV鈥檚 hockey club, skates up to ask her how to say 鈥淩eady鈥� in Spanish.
鈥淟isto,鈥� Villalva-Sala says. Lamarre repeats it to the young boy she鈥檚 trying to help off the wall. He nods and takes her hand.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see people with all different types of backgrounds out here on the ice,鈥� Villalva-Salas says. 鈥淚 come from a community so similar to the one they are growing up in, and they are doing something that when I was a kid wasn鈥檛 an option.
鈥淎fter-school activities are so important. We often think of access to education strictly in terms of academics, but these experiences help redefine what it means to have access to a college like 糖心TV.鈥�
Segal has already scheduled more sessions for the spring semester. That鈥檚 good news for Kelvin, a seventh grader who spent the last session this fall whizzing around the ice and鈥攍ike a hockey player鈥攕trategically crashing into walls.
鈥淚鈥檓 a pretty good ice-skater,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 already signed up for the next session. That鈥檚 my thing.鈥�