As evidenced by the various posters hanging around the school, on Feb. 23 CHS began offering indoor roller skating for students during lunch in the back gym, complete with provided skates.

“This is the first time for Churchill and the first time for any other high school in Montgomery County,” gym teacher Don Higgins said, in regards to the unorthodox program.

The lunch-time roller skating is part of an attempt by Higgins “to incorporate non-traditional activities into Churchill’s Intramural Program,” which will also include archery starting in two months.

According to the safety waiver, which all participants under the age of 18 must have signed by a legal guardian, students are responsible for supplying their own safety equipment, but “skates, supervision, and instruction” will be provided.

The 45 pairs of skates that CHS has were recently acquired.

“The money came from two sources,” Higgins said. “The PTSA [and] the Physical Education fund raising.”

The skates come in men’s sizes 4 through 13.

As for the supervision, Higgins assures that “multiple staff members will be skating and assisting with instruction.”

Students need not be expert skaters, for they can engage in either free skating or instructional skating for beginners.

According to Higgins, CHS has a limited number of skates, but the true limit of students depends on the number of beginning skaters getting instruction. The limit will most likely be around 25 to 30 students for the space provided.

Students who wish to enjoy music and would like to give skating a try are encouraged to try their hand and this un-traditional intramural. So early into the program, it is hard to gauge the interest level of students, but as more students discover the program, it is likely to become more popular.