Cool champ comes home for visit

Rockne Brubaker should have a big head.

The Algonquin native's ice skates have helped him travel to 25 different countries, meet various heads of state and secure multiple titles.

Last month, he and his partner, Keauna McLaughlin, 15, secured the gold medal in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, catapulting them to the No. 1 spot in the U.S. and fifth in the world.

Commentators have even described their skating as effortless, incredible, exciting and picture-perfect.

But Brubaker, 21, remains as humble as ever and has not forgotten his Algonquin roots.

He's in town this week motivating students at two of his former schools.

Wednesday he appeared before a sixth-grade team of 160 students led by Ann Spears, his former sixth-grade teacher, at Westfield Community Elementary School.

The tour continues this morning at Jacobs High.

The Westfield kids hung on Brubaker's every word as he told them that it took 16 years for him to reach this point in his career.

"I came from the same place you did, and I kind of had a dream of what I wanted to do and I made it happen," he said.

Still, there were days he wasn't sure he wanted to skate and he used his time in school to try out other sports, something he encouraged the kids to do.

But he always returned to the ice.

Brubaker has had his own ups and downs in the sport with injuries and partners -- he said he didn't get to compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, because his former partner pulled out at the last minute, he said.

"There's been plenty of times I skated the opposite of what you just saw," he said after showing a video of his award-winning program at the national championships.

Reaching your dreams takes a lot of hard work and there will be people along the way to discourage you, he said.

Sometimes, the pressure will be enormous, he said.

But you've got to block that out of your mind, find your passion and surround yourself with people who will support your mission, he said. For Brubaker, that person has always been his mother, Monica.

Today, Brubaker lives and trains in Colorado Springs, Colo. He's also a student at the University of Colorado and reminded the kids to stay in school so they've got something to fall back on.

Brubaker is in town only until Sunday and while here he's been visiting with family and friends. He's also helping his family repaint their house and wash the dishes.

Then it's back to Colorado, where he and McLaughlin will train to compete in and win the world championships next year and bring Olympic gold to the United States in 2010 -- something that's never been done in the pairs competition.

"It says a lot when you have people who are nationally and internationally known and yet they still care enough to be part of the community," Westfield Principal Bill Doran said.