USSG E-Newsletter Fall 2006

ussg e-newsletter Volume Six Fall 2006

In this Issue
A Letter from the Director
2006 Instructor Education Conference
USSG Committees
Level 1 & 2 IE Programs
2007 Outlook
E-newsletter Archives

A Letter from the Director

Dear friends,

I hope this finds you happy, healthy and enjoying life.

First up, for those of you that have not heard, my husband, Pat, and I are expecting a baby girl in just about 3 weeks! So if I've been out of touch please accept my apologies. The countdown has begun and I'd like to get you all caught up before the holidays.

This year has brought so many very rewarding experiences. Not only did we have an incredible conference in Seattle, we certified instructors across America, held our first Level 2 certifications, certified our first roller skating instructors, and thanks to the hard work of Heather Lacayo, sent out our fabulous certified instructor t-shirts.

We've developed our certified instructor search and created our own USSG members-only Yahoo group thanks to help from Doug Persons and Carl Michael Rossi. We’ve brought together an outstanding website committee that is working on design, promotion, organization, and more. We also have a talented manual committee assigned to the development of the USSG Level 1 Manual.

As you can imagine it's been a busy year and we expect 2007 to be even more so. Thank you to everyone for their positive thoughts, energy, and support in skate education. I've truly enjoyed meeting so many good people and making great new friends.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and will be in touch again soon with information regarding 2007 registration, and of course, news on the birth of our baby!

Warm wishes,

Janet

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The 2006 ussg Education Conference

The 2nd Annual ussg Instructor Education Conference was held on August 26th in Seattle, WA. Thank you to all who attended and helped produce a great event. It was truly amazing!

The conference offered skate education workshops, business seminars, on and off skates teacher training, skill development courses and more. Following the conference was the Seattle-Redmond Skate for MS and a Level 2 Instructor Examination (IE) Program.

Thank you to Explore, Sonic, Rollerblade, and K2 for generously providing product and supporting our members. We extend our appreciation to the terrific group of presenters who shared their knowledge and expertise with our participants. A special thank you goes out to Trish Alexander and Skate Journeys for welcoming us to their beautiful city and for all their time preparing for our arrival.

To check out more pictures please visit http://unitedskateschools.org/Conference2006.html
If you have pictures for us to post on the website, please email them to
members@unitedskateschools.org.

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Thank you to USSG Committees
The USSG really appreciates all the members that have graciously offered to volunteer time and effort on our committees. In an effort to bring in fresh ideas and energy to our association we have created two committees. Our talented and enthusiastic Level 1 Manual Committee, which will focus on the development of the Level 1 IE, consists of Liz Miller, Irene Pasternack, Matt Flora, Bill Hicks, Mary Russell and Kim Rodehorst. The Website Committee, which will help to redesign and organize our website, is made up of a brilliant group including Brodie Hynes, Phil Lenihan, Doug Persons, and Howard Brodwin. Your energy will help move the USSG to the next level in 2007.

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Successful 2006 Level 1 & 2 Certifications

	The USSG certified instructors in Phoenix, Washington DC, Houston, Seattle, Boston, and Los Angeles. Thank you to our Skate Education Specialists for their commitment to the success of the programs and especially to Kathy McSparran for bringing the program to candidates in several new cities.
We are especially excited to announce recently certifed Level 2 instructors Adrienne Rodshagen, Irene Pasternack and Jennifer Staller, as well as, our first roller-skating instructors, Faith Robinson and Matthew Owens, and first candidate from Iran, Yasamin Hejazi.

Congratulations to everyone!

Do you know anyone in the education field or health and fitness industry that has good people and communication skills? Do you have friends who LOVE skating? See if you can spark their interest and bring them to the world of skate education.

For information on 2007 programs visit www.unitedskateschools.org/IEcurric.html

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What's cooking for 2007
An item on the front burner for 2007 is increased exposure for members. The USSG now has a link on Rollerblade.com, will be listed in Rollerblade’s 2007 product brochure, and has equal exposure from K2. We hope to gain similar support from more manufacturers including Riedell and on other websites. We will once again offer manufacturer proforms to all members.

Programs that we are developing to increase member participation and business opportunities include IE hosting, IE prep-courses, and an interview process for prospective new Skate Education Specialists.

We're exploring venues for our 2007 Education Conference. We've set our sites east and will send out an announcement as soon as a date and place are set.

An exciting event that we are working toward is an industry-wide USSG sanctioned Free Skate Lesson Day with combined manufacturer support from K2 and Rollerblade. More details coming soon...

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Courtesy Issue
You may have received this issue of our Member E-newsletter complimentary of the USSG. When you receive a complimentary e-newsletter, the USSG is introducing you to membership opportunities and receipt of this material does not confirm membership. You have received this e-newsletter because you may be a member or may have expressed interest in skate education.

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