Winter Fun, When the Snow Comes

Skiing, sledding, snowboarding, ice-skating, speed skating, and even building snowmen and forts are activities that students here at Jamesville-DeWitt High School enjoy doing in the winter. Due to the lack of snow, they’ve been unable to do any winter activities, but some of the students of J-DHS are pumped for when it does.

Senior Mary Young likes to snowboard and play in the snow with her little brother. “Since there’s nothing else to do in Syracuse when it’s covered with 10 feet of snow, I might as well have fun doing something like snowboarding,” said Young. Senior Alec Thompson likes skiing and sledding. “I like hardcore sledding, trick sledding, doing 360s, and double-man jumps because they’re really fun and I’m hardcore like that,” said Alec Thompson. He usually goes sledding with junior Olivia Jasinski and skiing with a big group of friends that include seniors Chip Weber, Noel Williams and Josh Kiesa. “I’m excited about sledding this year because I also get to sled with new as well as old friends,” said Alec Thompson. Williams likes skiing and sledding, because he has a lot of fun with his friends. “We have a lot of adventures when we go skiing. It’s solid,” said Williams. Like Alec Thompson, Williams goes skiing with Chip Weber and Josh Kiesa. “Yeah, I’m excited about the winter this year. I want to see more broken wrists from Chip Weber,” said Williams, jokingly.

Freshman Tal Frieden likes skiing, sledding, and ice-skating. “I think you need to find an activity to do, otherwise the winters are dreadful. I think that there’s an activity for everyone,” said Frieden. He sleds and ice-skates with his friends. “I’m a daredevil, so I guess you could say I like the rush I get from sledding. I’m glad we’re getting a break (from snow) but at the same time, I’m excited to get out and play in the snow,” said Frieden.

“I like ice-skating because you can go really fast and it’s SO fun. My brother plays hockey so he teaches me how to ice-skate backwards,” said sophomore Maggie Austin. She usually goes ice-skating with her friend, senior Hali Greenhouse and with her family, because “it brings us together,” said Austin. “I’m so excited about going ice-skating this year because it’s very adventurous and it’s a good workout, and at the same time fun with my friends,” said Austin.

Junior Chelsea Clark absolutely loves the snow. “The snow is so fluffy, pretty, amazing, awesome, etc. I love it,” said Clark. She enjoys skiing, sledding, and simply playing outside in the snow. “I like skiing because I like going fast with the wind in my face and I like the fact that with skiing you can never stop improving. I like doing 360s on the ground, I’m excited about the snow that will fall this year” said Clark. She also enjoys sledding. Clark said that sledding is fun if it’s done with friends, and junior Callie Siegart agrees. “It’s really good exercise and for me it’s kind of a traditional thing, because I do it every year,” said Siegart.

“I love snowboarding because I like going really fast and I like having snowball fights because it’s fun nailing people with snowballs,” said senior Eric Thompson. He usually goes snowboarding with his cousins and has snowball fights with the friends he has in his neighborhood. “Yeah, I’m excited about getting to do winter activities this year … if we actually get any snow,” said Eric Thompson.

“Sledding, skiing, and ice-skating are all really fun. I like skiing because you get to go really fast down steep hills and sledding and ice-skating are just fun to do with friends,” said sophomore Ella DiGiovanni. She likes the idea of winter activities, but after a week, it gets boring. Junior Reynaldo Ortiz likes to sled in the winter because “it’s mad fun and thrilling, I love when you go really fast and crash at the end and fall into the snow.” Ortiz goes sledding with whomever he can find.

Juniors Patrick LaRussa and Andrew Scibilia both go skiing and sledding. LaRussa likes sledding here at J-DHS, because it’s “mad fun.” “I like going down hills fast which makes it enjoyable for me, plus it’s a good time to get together with friends and family,” said LaRussa, and Scibilia agrees.

“I like the changing of the seasons, and to be honest, I like the snow,” said junior Daniel Ortega who enjoys sledding and tubeing (sledding but with a tube) with his friends.

Junior Mackensie Mulvhill goes skiing and snowboarding with her family and friends, but this year she’s going to try and teach her boyfriend how to snowboard. “Skiing is fun, and I started snowboarding last winter because I wanted to try it. I’m not that good though, I get excited about skiing, but other than that, I don’t like the snow because it’s cold,” said Mulvhill. Senior Shelby Weinstein likes to ski. “It’s a social activity, I get to hang out with my friends, and it’s a good excuse to hang out on a Friday night. It gets you out of the house and it’s fun,” said Weinstein. She’s exited about skiing this year, but only if it actually snows.

Speed-skating senior Emily Elbers’ favorite winter activities include anything to do with skating, skiing, sledding, and making snowmen. She likes them because they’re good exercise, they get you outdoors, and they’re lots of fun. “I speed skate with a club called the Syracuse Speed Skating Club and I going skiing at Labrador with my friends,” said Elbers. “I get all excited and pumped about the winter because the weather is different and I like the change. Not everyone gets the opportunity to play with the snow, so I try to enjoy it, plus I like the outdoors. Also, I like the way everything looks like when it snows. It’s like a Winter Wonderland,” said Elbers.