The fifth year of the Learn To Skate program, a 32‑week initiative that pairs the Refugee Women’s Alliance with the Kraken’s One Roof Foundation, culminated in a lively skating and hockey showcase that drew families, volunteers and local supporters.
Founded to provide free ice‑time to roughly 80 preschoolers from low‑income, refugee and immigrant households across Seattle, the program blends skill‑building with social inclusion, using the rink as a neutral ground where language barriers melt away.
Parents such as Tiffany Keene have watched their children transform; Keene, who now volunteers as a chaperone, recalls how her son Rufus, who attended the program two years ago, went from tentative steps on the ice to confidently handling a hockey stick.
His sister Phoebe, who first joined at age four and returned at five, has developed a genuine love for figure skating, often practicing spins and leaps that culminated in a special performance during the program’s End of Year Celebration.
Celebrating Progress on the Ice
The celebration featured a series of demonstrations, from Phoebe’s graceful figure‑skating routine to Rufus’s energetic hockey drill, each met with applause from an audience that included community leaders and representatives from the partnering foundations.
Beyond the applause, the program’s structure — covering transportation, instruction and safety gear through the One Roof Foundation — has allowed families who might otherwise struggle to access ice‑time to participate fully, reinforcing the initiative’s dual mission of confidence‑building and social integration.
Over the past five years, the partnership has seen multiple children from the same families graduate, creating a ripple effect where older siblings mentor younger ones, and volunteers like Keene continue to give back, ensuring the program’s legacy endures.