PIMS students ‘let the good times roll’ with fun activity
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
DEVIN LAMOREAU, a seventh-grader at Presque Isle Middle School, is enjoying the school’s new roller blades.
He said using the equipment is giving his lower body a workout and making his legs stronger. The school recently purchased 20 pairs of roller blades and corresponding helmets, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards, and students have been roller blading since the second week of school.
PRESQUE ISLE — Devin Lamoreau and Miranda Bragan both know what they want for Christmas this year … roller blades.
The two are among the many students at Presque Isle Middle School that have been using the school’s new roller blades during recess.
“I had never been on roller blades before this,” said Lamoreau, a seventh-grader. “I’ve been wanting to try it for a while, and once I heard that the school was getting roller blades I was like, ‘Oh, that might be fun.’ The first day I tried I wasn’t that good, but throughout the days, I got better and better and better until today where I didn’t fall. The first time I fell I felt like giving up, but I didn’t. I kept on trying and now I’m getting pretty good at it.
“Last year I would usually play basketball, shoot hoops or play four-square during recess,” he said, “but I like roller blading because it gives my lower body a workout and makes my legs stronger. Plus it’s a lot of fun.”
Lamoreau admits to even practicing at home — without roller blades.
“I practice with my socks on on my kitchen floor,” he said. “I think that’s helping with my balance and posture.”
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE MIDDLE SCHOOL students are getting the most out of the school’s newly purchased roller blades. The students can sign out the gear Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 7:30-8 a.m. and at each grade levels’ recess times. Preparing for a noontime skate are, from left, front row: sixth-graders Jessica Boucher, Taylor Fletcher, Elisabeth Deschenes, Nechelle Dias and Brooke McLean. Back row: Ellie Goheen, Breanna Byrd, Sydney Craig, Miranda Bragan, Molly Shay and Nick Brown-Valiquette.
Bragan, a sixth-grader, agreed that roller blading is enjoyable.
“It’s extra fun at recess because it’s something we never used to have at Zippel [Elementary School]. Last year we’d usually play tether ball or four-square, but with four-square it can take a while to get people out and sometimes people can be unfair about it. Roller blading is a lot easier and it’s just me.
“I’ve been out basically every time they say we can,” she said. “I don’t have roller blades at home, but I want them. I’m going to ask for roller blades for Christmas. I’m really glad the school bought these.”
Though she’s roller skated before, Bragan said there are differences between the two activities.
“I’m used to tipping my foot up to stop and you can use either foot, but with roller blades, the brakes are only on one foot and it’s on the back, so that took some getting used to,” she said. “I’ve only fallen twice, so it’s going pretty good.”
According to Brian Cronin, physical education teacher at PIMS, the school purchased 20 pairs of roller blades and corresponding helmets, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards, and students have been roller blading since the second week of school.
“The response has been fantastic,” he said. “The seventh-graders are still getting used to it and some of them are ‘too cool’ to try, but the more kids that get out there, the more others want to do it. With the sixth-graders, the roller blades are gone … they just disappear, and we started with two or three eighth-graders and now we’re up to 6-10 on any given day.
TAYLOR FLETCHER, a sixth-grader at Presque Isle Middle School, puts on a pair of roller blades before heading out to the playground. Several students are spending their morning and noon recess three times a week enjoying the activity.
“We’re now getting kids asking if they can bring their roller blades in from home,” said Cronin. “I’m very happy with the students’ response.”
Cronin said the $2,000 to purchase the equipment came from different funding sources.
“We received $1,500 from a special donation, $250 from the PIMS PTO and $250 from the PIMS Student Council,” he said, noting that he also has money to repair the roller blades. “Monies were also provided by PIMS administration to close in our storage shelves in our equipment room by building doors with locks on them.
“The shelves are divided up into partitions and each bin has a plastic basket that the helmets, pads and roller blades go in,” said Cronin. “The students can sign out the gear Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 7:30-8 a.m. and at each grade levels’ recess times. They put everything on in the gym and then head out to the playground.”
During the summer, lanes on the outside of the playground were painted giving students a designated “track” in which they can roller blade.
“The students have all the opportunities they want during recess,” said Cronin. “They can play four-square, basketball, or go onto the soccer field, but they’re choosing roller blading. It’s a whole new activity — anybody can do it or learn to do it — and we’re going to try to incorporate it into our phys ed classes, as well.
“This is a fun way to get kids involved instead of standing around doing nothing,” he said. “We’re getting them exercising and they’re having fun which I think is great. Roller blading is individual, so you don’t need a team or to be intimidated. The kids have been very receptive to it.”
The students have a quick tutorial before venturing out onto the playground.
“If they’ve never skated before, we sit down with them and show them how to put everything on correctly. We have them start down on the ground so they can learn to get up and get their balance. Then we let them skate around the gym slowly, and show them where the brake is,” Cronin said. “For those who say they’ve done it before, we tell them, ‘Show me,’ and they’ll skate around, show us how to stop and glide, and then we’ll let them out on the playground. Their safety is important to us.”
Roller blading will also help the students get ready for ice skating this winter.
“In the winter — for the past two or three years — we’ve been building an ice skating rink,” said Cronin. “To lead up to that, we wanted to get them involved in skating more so we thought it would be nice if kids could roller blade on the playground during morning and noon recess. One thing led to another and now we have a number of students roller blading and more wanting to try it every day. I think it’s great.”
