Jan. 31, 2015—Bear Mountain, NY
It was a rather chilly morning at ELLIS (English Language Learners and International Support) High School as we waited for the bus to arrive and take us up to Bear Mountain State Park, but the cold was hardly something to keep Ray Greenwell (our fearless leader) and Mike Mullaley (soon to be certified NYC ICO co-leader) down. We started the day with an ice breaker game of Catch the Dragon’s Tail to warm everyone’s cold fingers and toes. Moments later, a speeding conga line of bundled up students and volunteers circled the front entrance, leaving everyone laughing and a bit out of breath. Soon the bus arrived and we were well on our way for a day of ice skating outdoors.
We arrived at Bear Mountain and warmed up inside the visitor’s center where we broke out our lunches and queued up for a whirl on the indoor carousel. Ray soon passed out our ticket stubs and we headed on over to pick up our skates and step in the rink. Krisy led her students out on the ice (many for the very first time!) and ELLIS teacher Andrew soon followed with his daughter Eleanor in toddler skates. The speakers blared out favorite dance tunes to get people moving and everyone seemed to be having a great time! Volunteer and skating pro Roople helped a number of students get their ice legs moving and it was great to see so many people skating arm-in-arm in the center of the rink (or maybe a little closer to the edge). We were happily joined by Jan Sanders with her students from Urban Assembly (one of NYC ICO’s other agencies) for a great day on the ice.
From the rink we headed on over to the outdoor Trailside Zoo where students dove in to make snow angels and throw white, powdery snow at each other. We followed the trail past a pair of foxes, two bears and a family of coyotes amongst many other animals. A huge, bald eagle stood majestically nursing an injured wing and we stopped by The Reptile and Amphibian House to gaze at snakes, toads and salamanders.
We ended the day back at the Visitor’s Center refueling on food while seated in a circle to talk about everyone’s favorite part of the trip. Many students responded with how much they enjoyed the experience of trying to skate for the first or second time with so many friends and volunteers to help them. No matter how many falls or near falls, smiles abounded from the experience. We soon packed up our bags, put on our layers and headed towards the bus back to the city. It may have been cold, but the beautiful park and huge smiles on so many faces were well worth it.