BILLINGS — In Montana, ice skating can feel like a natural part of winter — but getting on the ice often comes with a price tag. One Billings woman is working to change that, giving kids across the city the chance to lace up a pair of skates, some for the very first time.
Watch the story: Learn how to ice skate, some for the first time:
The opportunity to learn how to ice skate can seem out of reach, which is why Leslie Albright is making sure students across the city are getting their shot at Signal Peak Arena.
"It is a program that we developed for the children that live in the triangle that go to Newman, Ponderosa and Orchard schools," Albright said.
Bringing the program to Billings took years of work.
"That developer has worked with me for 16 years so we could figure out how to make it work in a small community instead of in a big town," Albright said.
The goal was simple: make the ice accessible to kids who might never get the chance to step on it.
"We wanted to help the underserved kids in our community and provide skating when they maybe were never going to ever get to skate," Albright said.
It didn't take long to see just how many kids wanted that chance.
"When we started, we thought we were going to be happy with 15 kids, and we have 32," Albright said.
Scarlett Scheibel is one of them. Like any new skater, she's learning that falling is just part of it.
"I've fallen on my knees a couple times, but it's been pretty fun," Scheibel said.
Between the falls, there are games, but behind the fun, they're building the basics.
"Sometimes we play red light, green light, sometimes we play follow the leader, sometimes we even play bingo," Scheibel said. "She tries pushing us as best as we can to be good skaters."
With every lap around the rink, Albright says the hesitation starts to melt away.
"They don't have a lot of the fear that older kids do. So the littles just get right on it, and they just have a blast, and they fall, and they get right up, and it's fun," Albright said.
After more than 50 years of teaching, Albright says watching that progress never gets old.
"We have already gotten a couple of these kids into our regular learned escape program because they're having so much fun with this program," Albright said.
