Embracing the Chill: How O’Keeffe Ski Club Builds Belonging

In Wisconsin, winter isn’t just a season, it’s a lifestyle.

But for many students, the cost and logistics of winter sports can make snowy ski hills feel out of reach. At O’Keeffe Middle School, the MSCR ski club is working to change that, knocking down barriers and creating a sense of belonging on the slopes.

“You need to embrace the cold and the snow and find the joy in it,” Annie Anderson, a 7th-grade language arts and social studies teacher, plus ski club’s advisor said. “We encourage kids who have never attempted skiing before to come out and try it.”

Open to all students at O’Keeffe, Anderson said ski club is designed with one primary goal: accessibility. Skiing and snowboarding are notoriously expensive hobbies, requiring gear, travel and lift passes, but O’Keeffe ensures that financial hurdles don’t stop students from participating.

“If kids don't have the gear we find the gear for them, for families who can't afford it, there are scholarships available,” Anderson said. “My favorite part of ski club is seeing the joy on kids' faces who would have never been able to do this otherwise.”

The club offers opportunities for night skiing, all-day trips and even tubing for students who might be intimidated by the skis but still want to be part of the fun. 

“My parents don’t ski — they’ve never tried it before so I don’t think I would have tried skiing if it wasn’t for this club,” Fatima, an 8th grade student at O’Keeffe said. “I really like trying new things, going down the hills and making new friends while we’re on these trips.”

For experienced skiers, the club offers something just as valuable: community. Two students on the trip noted that while they have skied with family for most of their lives, the club provides an opportunity to hit the slopes with all their friends.

“I like the people here, it’s super fun to get all my friends together in one place,” Seeley, an 8th grader at O’Keeffe who has been skiing for years said. “It gives me a lot of freedom to do the runs on the hill whenever I want to do them.”

That independence also fosters a spirit of collaboration among students. Rather than separating into groups by skill level, the more experienced skiers often teach their classmates how to make it down the hill.

“It gives me an opportunity to teach my friends things or learn from them,” Jay, a 7th grader at O’Keeffe said. “Plus I can ski with my friends who need rentals, because usually they wouldn’t want to pay for the rentals on top of a lift ticket on a normal day.”

For Anderson, the mission is personal. Growing up in a single-parent household, she relied on similar school programs to learn the sport. Now, she watches students gain the same confidence she got from ski club trips.

“They might have tears running down their face because of the cold, the red cheeks, sipping on hot chocolate — but they got the biggest grin because they accomplished something,” Anderson said. “They look up that hill and they're like, 'I did that.'”