Skater to Coach to Teacher
My name is Katie Spurgeon. I can remember the day that my hometown roller rink closed its doors. In an instant, my family’s Sunday afternoons at “Jan & Dean’s Rollin’ Wheels” disappeared, and we were lost without our “third-space.” So imagine my joy, when my mom announced that I could try ice skating! She wanted to give me the opportunities her family couldn’t afford - and our rink’s low-cost public skate fit right in the budget. As did their Learn-to-Skate program, where I glided and fell, more times than I can count. Armed with my helmet, snowpants, and unrelenting enthusiasm to “try again,” I made friends, met wonderful coaches and only left the ice when the zamboni insisted that time was up.
Because my family joined the rink, our Sundays turned into Mondays, and later Wednesday mornings before school. My dad learned to drive the zamboni, and my mom learned to sew skating dresses, so going to the rink meant family time in the best way, including the car ride to Madison Ice Arena & Hartmeyer Ice Arena so I could skate with the “big kids.”
Soon I became a volunteer for the Learn to skate Program. The joy I felt helping kids learn how to skate left an impact on me, and before long, I was accepted into UW-Madison’s School of Education. Throughout college, I kept going to MIA & Hartmeyer with the UWFSC; which booked ice at each rink, to give us sufficient practice time to be competitive nationwide. As a collegiate athlete, I reassured young skaters that their skating dreams could grow with them, and they’d always have the rink to come home to.
Now, I have the joy of both being a coach and a teacher with the Madison Metropolitan School District. I’ve had my own classroom for a decade, and some of my former scholars have become my skating students too. Teaching and coaching the Madison youth has given me a nuanced look into our community. I see how skating builds character, reinforces a growth-mindset, and encourages kids to set goals and navigate physical challenges. Skating provides a venue for problem-solving skills to shine, as athletes overcome obstacles, get creative, and have a fun workout all the while. This is exactly what our community needs, and Hartmeyer and MIA are where it happens. Skating is the first activity I recommend to my students’ families during conferences, especially as summer-school and MSCR classes quickly fill. I also encourage families of students with special needs to enroll in the adapted Learn to Skate program, to access skating in a differentiated way.
While I live in District 15, I consider the rinks my “home.” We are privileged to have this “third space” because the rinks are where I see the Madison community truly thrive. Through MIA and Hartmeyer’s open doors, I am assured that kids and families will have a place to learn, play, grow, and chase their dreams as they go on to become the Madison of the future. As this committee considers the value of the land that these rinks occupy, I challenge it to equally consider the value of the opportunities that the rinks bring to the Madison community, and will bring to us for generations to come.