In the Spotlight: IISTL Youth Mentoring + Edwardsville YMCA Collab
By Marisa Tesoro
Katherine Schoeberle was so worried one of her students was going to break a wrist or tailbone.
As the Teen Program Coordinator at the International Institute, she was responsible for the more than 20 kids roller skating around the rink at the Edwardsville YMCA. But the kids were having the time of their lives and didn’t seem to share her concern.
Despite never roller skating before, kids shuffled and glided around the rink, taking on this new world at their own pace.
One kid put on only one skate, possibly for additional grip or as a safety net of sorts. Another found herself stranded somehow on the far side of the rink, nervous to skate back and rejoin the group for lunch. Still many others relied on supports made of PVS pipes. But after a while, they got the hang of it and didn’t want the fun to end.
“The kids didn’t want to do anything else after that. We should have saved it for the end,” Schoeberle laughed.
By the end, they were asking when they could go roller skating again.
There was plenty more in store after roller skating, though, at the Edwardsville YMCA that day. Schoeberle and Darla Andree, the Arts and Humanities Director at the Y, had planned a day full of activities for these kids.
Following snacks and pizza provided by the Y, kids split off into groups, choosing between martial arts, dance, or art. Later, they played basketball and even ventured into the chilly outdoors for some soccer.
Schoeberle worked with Andree to plan the event and accommodate the needs of her students. “We had a lot of discussion about what would be culturally appropriate,” she said. “It was great to explore and talk about these things.”
For example, they considered the girls wearing skirts and the kinds of activities to provide as well as what would be appropriate dance-wise.
Everyone wants to do it again, probably in the Spring.
Schoeberle would even like to maybe include a trip to Southern Illinois Edwardsville (SIUE) in an effort to expose kids to other options for college that are also still close to home.