A dozen Hidden Valley Nature Center members offer their time and talents each year helping to train both kids and adults the skills and joys of cross-country skiing. To help become better teachers, seven of them attended a teacher training at Quarry Road Recreation Area in Waterville.

The Maine Winter Sports Center program is designed for community leaders, volunteers, parents, PE teachers, and other interested adults to experience and learn about outdoor sport education, and how they can use these skills to make a difference in their own communities.

Day one of the workshop featured the foundations of cross-country skiing and education; day two covered sport-specific skills, including both skate and classic techniques. For more information on the Maine Winter Sports Center, go to http://www.mainewsc.org/.

The 45 kids in the HVNC program are broken into four groups with 2-4 instructors, including two teenagers, in each group. The beginners become comfortable with skis on their feet, gliding along on the snow with or without poles. The games they play are designed to increase their skills in a fun manner. The intermediate groups have completed several-mile adventures on the well-maintained trails at HVNC. By this final week, many of the kids are now flying along the trails skate skiing, making it look like they were born with skis on their feet!

Keep your fingers crossed for more snow. Winter can’t be over yet! Stay tuned to the HVNC webpage for information on trail conditions.

HVNC is an education and recreation center in Jefferson that is now part of Midcoast Conservancy. For more information: www.hvnc.org, ali@midcoastconservancy.org, or 207-389-5150.