Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Though hidden by tall snow banks, students at Presque Isle Middle School have a new spot to burn off some energy and beat cabin fever.
A 100-foot long by 40-foot wide skating rink has been built behind the school beyond the basketball hoops on what is known as the barn field.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
A NEW OUTDOOR SKATING RINK at the Presque Isle Middle School is keeping students active this winter. Built behind the school beyond the basketball hoops on what is known as the barn field, students can use the rink before and after school, as well as during their recesses. Here, the students form a Conga line as they skate along the 100-foot long by 40-foot wide rink.
“We have intramurals in the winter and we want to keep kids active,” said physical education teacher Brian Cronin, who came up with the idea for the skating rink. “We offer cross country skiing and snowshoeing during their recesses at each grade level, and I said, ‘It would be nice if we could have a rink out here that we could maintain.’”
Cronin pitched the idea to principal Anne Blanchard who met the idea with great enthusiasm.
“I went out and found a level spot on the field and Sandy Curran, our facilities manager, built the rink itself,” said Cronin. “I got the dimensions and told him what we needed for materials, which only cost about $400, and he and custodian Tib Caron, did the rest.
“We tried to keep it off of the soccer field. It’s located on the barn field just as you walk into the gate … maybe at the middle of the 18-yard line at best. We didn’t want to hurt the field. We tried to do it just before the ground froze so we wouldn’t have to drive stakes in,” he said. “We put 2 by 6’s together – end to end – and formed the rink and then we bought plastic that we were going to put down, but we had rain and snow and it melted and froze almost into a base anyway. Usually you put plastic down and then have the fire department come and the water stays within that space and you have the base. We didn’t have to do that because of the natural base.”
The Presque Isle Fire Department has agreed to come up weekly and flood the rink to give it a fresh, smooth finish. Officials at The Forum have also donated 30 pairs of sharpened skates for the students to use.
The skates are housed in the school’s equipment room. The students simply grab the skates and head over to the rink, or they can bring their own from home.
A number of donated hay bales line one side of the rink. Cronin said the students can sit on the bales to put on their skates.
The week of Jan. 20-23 was the first full week students were able to take advantage of the rink.
“It’s worked out really well,” said Cronin, noting that the students will probably be able to skate until March.
“I grew up on the south side of Boston,” he said, “and they used to flood the cranberry bogs for us. We’d go at 5 a.m. before school and it was always a lot of fun.”
The students are thrilled to be outside skating.
“It’s fun,” said sixth-grader Tori Harvath. “I’ve been skating since I was 7. It’s fun being able to go out at lunchtime. It’s a good chance to get some exercise and spend time with my friends.”
“Today was my first time on the ice,” sixth-grader Chase McIntosh said Jan. 23. “I think it’s really cool because we get to go out and have some fun at school; we’re not only in class doing work or sitting in the library reading. We also get to go out, get active, and go skating on the ice. This was only my fourth time ice skating. I’m still a little shaky, but it’s fun.”
Sixth-graders Amy and Ashley Trask have even put up posters around the school trying to generate excitement about the rink.
“We both came up with the idea of doing posters to get more people outside because there were only like five people doing it at first,” said Amy. “We started spreading the word before we did the posters, and now we’re making posters to hang in the school.
“We’ve put two posters in House I and House II, and we’re making another three that we’ll put in the gymnasium, cafeteria and the library because that’s where most of the people are,” she said.
Ashley said they’ve been working on the posters both in school and at home.
“We bring some of the supplies that we can use like colored pencils and paint,” she said. “We work on them sometimes after school, too.”
The Trasks have taken to the ice a few times already and are having fun getting exercise and socializing.
“I’ve gone out a couple of times,” said Amy. “I don’t get outside as much because my parents work until 4:30 p.m. I love the opportunity that we have now at our school because now I can get outside and play and get the exercise that I need.”
“I started skating about two years ago,” Ashley said. “You get to practice tricks, and I like to lead the Conga lines. I hope everybody in the middle school goes outside and has fun.”
In addition to their daily lunch recesses, students can skate before and after school Tuesdays through Thursdays from 7:30-8 a.m. and 3-4:30 p.m., respectively.
“Those days may change,” said Cronin. “If we get more interest and the kids keep flocking to it, we may even go every morning from 7:30-8 a.m. Interest is definitely building.”
Aside from the obvious health benefits, Cronin said offering a school skating rink helps cut down costs, as well.
“In the past, we’ve gone to The Forum to skate with the physical education classes so they’d get exposed to it,” he said, “but that costs a lot of money and financially everything’s a little tighter now. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to build our own.”
Cronin said he hopes the skating rink will become an annual feature at the school.
“We’d like to do it every year, start it earlier, and actually make it a little bit wider next year so we can get more kids out there,” he said. “It’s only one grade at a time that’s out there at recess. A bigger facility would accommodate more kids.”
Community members can use the skating rink during non-school hours.
“Just like any part of the facility that we have here … they come up and use the track and soccer fields,” said Cronin. “Anybody’s welcome on the facility as long as they follow the rules and be respectful of the property.”
On extremely cold days, the students will remain indoors during recess.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
BRIAN CRONIN, physical education teacher at Presque Isle Middle School, helps student Erin Ackerson with her skates during a recent recess.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
WHILE SOME STUDENTS are able to spin and do tricks, others are a little unstable on their skates. Regardless of their skill level, all the Presque Isle Middle School students who have used the new skating rink have had a great time.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
BUILT BEHIND PRESQUE ISLE MIDDLE SCHOOL beyond the basketball hoops on what is known as the barn field, a 100-foot long by 40-foot wide skating rink now gives students a fun way to beat cabin fever and get exercise at the same time. The Presque Isle Fire Department has agreed to come up weekly and flood the rink to give it a fresh, smooth finish. Officials at The Forum have also donated 30 pairs of sharpened skates for the students to use.
