Winter Stories

McLean, VA. October 2007-Through its Winter Feels Good initiative, SnowSports Industries America (SIA) is collaborating with a number of national and regional associations and businesses in the snow sports industry to distribute a new interactive learning tool kit that teaches children "best practices" for snow sports. SIA is the national non-for-profit trade association for snow sports suppliers. The kit is available free this fall for use by physical education and classroom teachers, scout leaders, recreation directors and other professionals involved in getting children active. Two version of the kit were produced - one is posted on line at http://www.winterfeelsgood.com/ and the other was packaged as a CD for limited distribution to schools in the Midwest, New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the Rocky Mountain states of Colorado and Utah.

The kit includes a series of "learning modules" created originally through a partnership between SnowSports industries America (SIA), Snow Monsters, the Ski Utah school program and the Professional Ski Instructors of America/American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA/AASI) and with cooperation from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), the Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA) and the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA)  In addition, take-home flyers, video clips, lesson plans and numerous resources also are included in the kit make it easy for target audiences to use the material. Lesson plans are gleaned from a variety of sources including WinterKids and Winter Fit.

Targeted toward elementary school children, the eight learning modules features Snow Monsters characters - Snowball the Tiger, the Snowboard Beaver, the X (cross country) Wolf and Snowshoe Roo - showing children how to dress for snow sports, basic conditioning exercises that help improve agility, muscle strength and balance and basic information about the products needed for alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing and snowshoeing. The modules  include quizzes to allow children to "self test" what they have learned. Children must properly outfit the characters before they can cruise off on-line for a snow sports experience. Materials in the package adhere to standards established by PSIA/AASI and those of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), the official membership organization for physical education professionals. The package is intended to help children learn introductory information before they get to a resort learning program.

"We are thrilled to be working with so many industry and non-industry partners on this project to bring right into schools and community activity programs the kind of basic information that children and their parents need to get started in snow sports," said Mary Jo Tarallo, director of Education for SIA. "We see this as the first step in a process that will eventually include many more topics related to the world of snow sports."   

Five thousand copies of the CD version are being distributed to schools through community outreach programs run by resorts and directly to end users through professional organizations that represent "activity leaders" including the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), the YMCA and the National Association of Parks and Recreation. Winter Feels Good project managers also are working with PSIA, NSAA, CCSAA and  state resort associations to encourage local use in schools, recreation and parks departments, physical activity organizations and health groups.

Vibrant and proactive, SnowSports Industries America (SIA) is the intelligent partner of the snow sports industry. SIA annually produces the SIA SnowSports Show, the largest industry trade show and networking environment, and delivers invaluable data, support and marketing products. SIA serves as the national, not-for-profit, member-owned trade association representing snow and winter sports companies. For more information, visit http://www.snowsports.org/.