Our differences are what make our communities so vibrant and beautiful. We at Activities Beyond the Classroom (ABC) appreciate the different experiences and interests of all our students, which is why we continuously work with each school to ensure we offer ABC Club(s) and afterschool activities most beneficial to each student population.
Starting September 2024, ABC Clubs introduced roller skating as a new afterschool option for 71 students grades K-6 attending Kilgour, Rees E Price, and Rockdale schools. We’ve already experienced a waitlist for this activity in its first and second semester, reflecting both kids’ and parents’ excitement about the club.
Roller skating is more than a fun pastime. It offers full-body activity that promotes physical health, social engagement, and emotional well-being. For many of the students in our afterschool program, putting on a pair of skates isn’t just about movement, but rather about confidence, self-expression, and joy.
Roller skating is a great way for kids to stay active while having fun. It improves balance, coordination, and endurance, all while strengthening muscles in the legs and core. Unlike high-impact sports, skating is easy on the joints, making it a great option for children of all skill levels. Additionally, the consistent motion of skating increases heart rate, improving circulation and stamina over time.
Socially, skating encourages students to connect with their peers, work as a team, develop friendships, foster a sense of community, and grow individual creativity and expression. Many of our students come to the club for the first time feeling uncertain, but as they improve, they gain confidence not just in skating, but in themselves. Skating is a great tool to teach students healthy coping skills to regulate emotions and stress by experiencing the freedom and joy of movement, mastering new skills, and developing resilience. Students leave the program feeling empowered and excited to keep pushing their limits.
Roller skating teaches students about an activity steeped in African American culture. With roller rinks’ transition from organ music to popular records in the late 1950s, skating gained popularity as it evolved into a fusion of music and movement, playing a significant role in black music and entertainment. Black skaters specifically created new styles of skating, including JB “James Brown” style, soul roll, and jam skating – all still widely popular and ever-evolving today.
We are honored to have internationally recognized roller skater, Dylan Morton, as ABC’s lead skate instructor. Dylan has been skating for 15 years, taught in over 13 countries, and has performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, including at the AMAs with P!nk and the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show with Usher.
As a native to Cincinnati, Dylan has a unique perspective on the history and impact of roller skating in our community. In a 2023 interview with Cincinnati Magazine, Dylan explained how the skating community here differs from other skating communities nationwide. “We have four or five different styles in our one city, and so we’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from a lot of different places … but if you ever come to a Cincinnati rink, you will see every single one of those styles at one given time. I think that’s the beauty of Cincinnati—it’s a melting pot of diversity.”
Dylan states it best: “[I]t’s really hard to be mad on roller skates; it gives people a release that you can’t really find anywhere else … it’s just so joyful to skate.”
Now, Dylan is leading the next generation of roller skaters through ABC’s afterschool programs. Roller skating is offered to students grades K-6 attending Kilgour, Rees E Price, and Rockdale schools as part of our ABC Clubs program. Through ABC’s commitment to serving the “whole” child, ABC Clubs also provide students with holistic support including tutoring, a snack, and dinner.
Students are learning the fundamentals of roller skating and more advanced skills, including:
At the end of each semester, ABC hosts a showcase where students perform their newly learned skills in front of their family and school staff. We’re very excited to see our students show off their new skills this spring!
We find that participating students are making skating a regular activity outside of school by visiting skating rinks and skating outdoors. But roller skating at home requires students to have the financial ability to purchase roller skates and other required equipment, which many low-income families lack.
Currently, our limited resources require skating instructors set up, pack up, and transport every pair of skates from school to school. Not only does this require an inordinate amount of physical effort and time from our skating instructors, but also limits students’ ability to enjoy skating on their own time.
This high level of both student and parent engagement has catalyzed a new goal: to provide each student with their own pair of skates at the end of the semester so that they can continue skating at their leisure. We would also like to have an adequate inventory of skates at each school so that there are less moving parts for our instructors. If you feel inspired to support our skaters, you can donate to ABC today!
