SOTM Meeting Minutes for Feb 7, 1999

The most important issue for today was to find a volunteer who would be responsible for cancelling lessons in the event of rain by notifying the school, the bus company, and the program volunteers. This person will also be responsible for giving a brief summary of any problems to Alex J. Dennis volunteered for the Monday session; we need somebody for the Tuesday and Thursday lessons. Please email Alex (a-jacoby@uchicago.edu) if you can help.

The next topic of discussion was Alex's proposal for a new curriculum/teaching style. Under the new curriculum, a coach would work individually with four to six kids (roughly 5 minutes each) during a skating session. The rest of the students have free skate the rest of the time, and at least one or two volunteers would be free to help those wanting extra attention. The big change would be the end of trying to teach group lessons, as most volunteers were having a difficult time with them. We'll try it out next week and see how it goes.

An ongoing topic of discussion is the need to find teaching opportunities for those volunteers who cannot come to the regularly scheduled classes. Niels and Pamela will contact student organizations on campus who work with kids in an effort to schedule skating sessions in the afternoons and weekends.