Wilderness Kids Sets Off on Skates!
On Saturday, December 7, Wilderness Kids led 16 of our awesome students on our first ever ice skating adventure at the rink at Cameron Run, right here in Alexandria.
In addition to spills and laughter, to wobbly knees and rail-grabbing, to graceful gliding and smiles, there was an abundance of student-to-student support and teaching. The vast majority of our students had never ice-skated before and none had skated more than once or twice. Several, however, had roller-skated or roller-bladed, and for a few of them, the transition to ice came quite naturally.
Adil converted some roller-skating experience quickly to zooming around the ice, while Josiah took a break by the railing on his first-ever outing (during which he improved incredibly). Douaa takes support from a whale while the gang stops to say "peace."
It was a wonderful thing to see the students for whom the ice seemed like a second home offer caring advice and instruction to their friends and classmates. Some of the best skaters even took to providing the engine for a friend’s ride around the rink on a blue whale!
The Thrill of the Spill. Christian, who took to the ice like a penguin to a snow-bank, enjoys coming in fast and going for a slide!
This is what community is about—those who have a gift sharing it with those who appreciate that gift and can learn and benefit from it. Our students with a gift for skating shared those gifts well on Saturday while other students received tips and pointers, lessons and help, graciously and gratefully.
The entire experience of the past 18 months since Wilderness Kids inception has been reflective of this idea of community — people of diverse talents, means, interests, experiences, orientations, backgrounds, and more coming together to give and receive, to contribute and to appreciate, to befriend and to be friends. Hope to see you outside soon!
Helping hands were the unofficial theme of the day as students and volunteers helped each other around the rink, with a comforting hand or a push on a tiny blue whale.
Comments