Hey WSGC Athletics fans!

This month we are highlighting one of our exceptional student-athletes, 8th Grader Francesca Giumenta. She is currently training for the U.S. Figure Skating Regional Championships. Her keen love of learning and expressing herself through movement have enabled her to balance her classroom commitments and the intense physical demands of the skating rink. Even at this young age, she is a shining star and an exemplary model of what it truly means to be a Waldorf student-athlete.

Francesca joined The Waldorf School of Garden City community when she was just a baby, tagging along with her older brother Joseph who was in Parent & Child classes. She began figure skating at nine-years-old and quickly moved up to the Junior Skating Academy at the Northwell Ice Center for a year. A year later, she began private coaching with Debbie Crawford and competed at a local level throughout Nassau County, winning over 20 gold, silver, and bronze medals.

For the past three years, Francesca has participated in the Empire State Games in Lake Placid, medaled in both the Middle Atlantic Championships here in New York and the Northeast/North Atlantic Championships in Boston. Her combination of strength and agility helped accelerate her quickly through the various levels of competition.

Today, Francesca has advanced to the Intermediate Ladies Division of competition. She will be embarking on her first trip to the U.S. Figure Skating Regional Championships in Norwood, Massachusetts, this November, where she will be performing both a short and long program. Francesca hopes to move up to Junior and Senior Levels while in High School.

When she is not training, Francesca volunteers at Northwell Ice Center as a teacher’s assistant in the Learn to Skate program, where she helps new skaters learn the basics of ice skating.

This year, Francesca will be researching and training two different triple jumps, which she hopes to perform in April, for her 8th-grade final project. She will work with her present coach, Valerie Murray, to record her progression and explain the physics behind jumping throughout the year.

Please join me in congratulating Francesca for all her accomplishments thus far. I wish her the very best of luck at the U.S. Figure Skating Regional Championships in Norwood, Massachusetts, this November. The Waldorf community is so proud of you and can’t wait to see how high you soar!

Shane Flanagan, Athletic Director