Mt. Lebanon’s nationally-recognized program teaches ice skating for life
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Mabel Kunkler, 5, and Grayson Delorie practice gliding backwards during a recent Learn to Skate session. This year marks the first time either local has participated in an ice skating program.
Coach Joanna Wallander, who joined the team three months ago, kicks up ice after a recent Learn to Skate session.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Coach Liz Leavey demonstrates a skill to enthusiastic students during a recent Learn to Skate session at Mt. Lebanon’s studio rink.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Coach Liz Leavey, a lifelong skater, explains the next challenge during a recent Learn to Skate session.
A young student glides along the ice on a recent weekday.
Grant Kegel practices skating backward, without assistance, during a Learn to Skate lesson at Mt. Lebanon's studio rink. Kegel has been skating for about eight months and hopes to play hockey, his father Nate said.
Mabel Kunkler, 5, and Coach Joanna Wallander, right, glide backwards together across the ice during a recent Learn to Skate lesson. Skating is fearless Kunkler's favorite thing, her mother Jessica said.
Coach Liz Leavey steadies Marty Kunkler, 4, as the young skater glides across the ice. Kunkler and his sister Mabel, 5, are first-time Learn to Skate participants.
Coach Joanna Wallander encourages Grant Kegel to skate backward during a recent lesson at Mt. Lebonon Recreation Center.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
When Price Minerd, 5, was gifted a pair of skates from a neighbor, his mother Kelsey Minerd enrolled him in Learn to Skate. Here, Minerd falls and gets up again, a key skill learned early in the classes.
At the end of every Tot Prep class, coaches Joanna Wallander, second from left, and Kim Barnhart (Zelinsky), center, lead students in a "Thank you!" to their parents.
Mabel Kunkler, front, leads a group of students across the ice during a recent Learn to Skate class at the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Center.
A student glides from wall to wall during a recent Learn to Skate session at the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Center.
Students follow the leader around the blue circle on the Mt. Lebanon studio rink on a recent weekday. Coach Joanna Wallander, far left, led the students, who are eager learners.
Southwestern Pennsylvanians have laced up their skates, marched onto the ice and learned to fall, glide and spin through the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Center’s nationally recognized Learn to Skate program for upwards of 40 years.
“Skating is a lifetime sport,” said Keri Holton, who began skating at Mt. Lebo when she was a girl and now serves as program manager for the local Learn to Skate. “You don’t have to start when you’re three. You can start when you’re an adult.”
Learn to Skate, powered by Toyota and endorsed by U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and U.S. Speedskating, promotes skating for life and offers classes to anyone ages three and up. The local program was recently recognized by Learn to Skate USA for high enrollment: between January and May 2022, Mt. Lebanon welcomed 533 individuals onto the ice.
Mt. Lebanon’s Learn to Skate program ranks 75 in the country and third in the state.
“I was thrilled. I was so excited to receive that (letter),” said Holton. “This isn’t the first time that we’ve had such big numbers. The program has consistently been high numbers.”
Holton attributes the program’s storied success to its longevity and coaching staff – a current coach co-founded Learn to Skate at Mt. Lebonan in 1977.
“The experience that the coaching staff brings, I think, is one of the reasons that this program has been successful. The experience level as a whole, with both hockey and figure skating, it’s astounding,” Holton said. “Everybody loves it. They love coaching. They love skating.”
Some coaches’ enthusiasm is unbridled – Kim Zelinsky comes to mind, with her big smile and infectious energy – while others are warm or strict.
“Kim, she’s one with such enthusiasm with the kids,” Holton said. “Liz Leavey (is) one of our top and long-term coaches. They all bring something different to the table.”
Jesskica Kunkler, whose kids Mabel and Marty are both first-time Learn to Skate participants, said the experience has been excellent.
“The coaches really are awesome,” said Kunkler. “It’s a wonderful program. It’s like (Mabel)’s favorite thing.”
The Learn to Skate staff works together to provide a rewarding experience for all who step, however timidly, onto the ice. The program draws students of all ages and levels from throughout the region, including Peters, Canonsburg and Rostraver.
Learn to Skate offers three tiers of children’s classes: tot prep, snowplow sam and basics. Basics classes are divided into six levels, which teach increasingly advanced skills.
Tot prep students learn to fall – and they’re fearless, Zelinsky laughed. When they’ve mastered falling and getting up again, children learn to skate forward and backward, to stop and to spin.
“It’s been nice to see him improve his staking skills,” said Jamie Delorie, whose son Grayson switched from roller skating to ice skating this year. “He really likes it.”
Kids gain more than just ice skills through the Learn to Skate program.
“He’s pretty confident with it,” said Nate Kegel, whose son Grant hopes to play hockey with the Little Pens after successfully completing Learn to Skate.
Confidence in their abilities is transferable to confidence in life, Holton said. She loves watching kids grow through the program.
“It’s so fun to see those kids who might be super scared to be on the ice. By week six, they’re gliding across the ice on their own,” said Holten.
Many young students go on to Little Pens and the Mt. Lebanon Hornets Association or to compete in state and national figure skating competitions. Several program alums have played in the National Hockey League and earned accolades nationally in dance competitions.
Other Learn to Skate graduates earn teaching certifications and pass their knowledge to younger skaters.
“Junior coaches, we call them helpers, love skating so much they want to help these new kids,” Holton said proudly.
While kids learn skating basics, adults and teens, too, gain valuable on- and off-ice skills through Learn to Skate. They also get a great workout.
“We teach them the same types of basic skills that we teach the kids,” said Holton. “The one thing that we promote with that is just getting moving and getting exercise, exercise and coordination. You don’t realize how many muscles you’re using skating until you get out there. You’re concentrating on not just the movement but on your form. Balance. Coordination. It’s a great skill for anybody to have.”
The adult and teen classes welcome first-time and lapsed skaters alike, who learn to glide and improve their edgework. Holton said some teens take lessons simply so they can skate with friends, while adults register for classes so they and their families can enjoy rink time together.
The recreation center offers a play date for parents and young ones every Tuesday morning and open skates throughout the week, during which time many Learn to Skate students practice their skills.
“There’s a group of friends that come, and they skate together, and they do it for exercise,” Holton said.
The rink is situated on the ground floor of Mt. Lebanon’s rec center, and the studio rink, where Learn to Skate classes are held, is nestled next to the hockey arena. Accessibility also plays a role in the program’s success, Holton said.
“It’s not just a standalone rink somewhere,” said Holten. “It’s integrated into the community.”
Students often carry equipment to the rink after school, and some Learn to Skate participants bicycle to class. Park-goers frequently mosey into the ice skating area and discover the program, which they pass along to friends.
“Mt. Lebanon is a small community. It’s a tight-knit community,” Holton said. And “(Learn to Skate) is a strong, well-run program.”
The program, she reiterated, is more than just preparation for kids to go on to the Olympics or NHL. It’s really about being active.
“Whenever I was growing up … there was a woman, I swear was in her 80s, and she was out there skating all the time,” Holton said, with a tinge of awe. “It’s something that you can continue to do.”
Zelinsky echoed that sentiment.
“It’s skating for life, and skating for all ages, and for the enjoyment,” she said. “I like to open people’s eyes: Learn to Skate is about the joy of skating.”
Learn to Skate classes run between six and eight weeks, and registration is now open for the October-December session.
For more information on Mt. Lebanon’s Learn to Skate program, visit mtlebanon.org/347/Learn-to-Skate.