Vernon Hills High School turns foyer into skating rink
Vernon Hills High School students traded sneakers for ice skates during lunch periods Tuesday as the building's foyer was temporarily turned into a skating rink.
The 32-foot-by-40-foot skating surface wasn't ice, though - it was a plastic material that snapped together like a giant puzzle and simulated the slick surface of an ice rink.
But the students and staffers who laced up skates for some indoor cardiovascular exercise didn't mind the difference.
"It's good enough," freshman David Kasyanyuk said. "(I'm) having fun."
School officials rented the rink for the day from a company called Heart Breaker Entertainment. Ice skates were available for people to borrow, too.
The school set up the rink to promote Saturday's turnabout dance, the theme of which is the Winter Olympics. It was also a way to promote a healthy activity, said Deborah Beagle, the student activities director at Vernon Hills High.
"It could be the first chance a student has had the opportunity to ice skate," Beagle said.
Freshman Katie Hansen was among the teens who skated Tuesday. She hasn't skated in a while and took a few tumbles, but she laughed them off and had a good time.
"It's pretty difficult but it's really fun, once you get used to the skates," Hansen said. "When you get a good push, it's just like ice."