As figure skating training schedules increase, skaters find it very difficult to keep up with their studies or attend school. Toronto's St. Andrew's Junior High School's High Performance Athlete program helps figure skaters deal with this issue.

This past week, I had the privilege of chatting with Tina Yan, a Canadian novice level competitive figure skater, who is a student in the program. At this time, she is training in Colorado, USA, as she prepares for Canada's Challenge, but is able to keep up with her studies because of the unique program her school has set up for young athletes.

I wish their were similar educational programs in the United States. I do know that some school districts in the U.S. have set up "figure skaters schedules," but this is the first time I have heard of an actual public school program that is designed exclusively to meet the needs of young competitive athletes.

• About St. Andrew's Junior High School's Program for Figure Skaters
• Can Serious Figure Skaters Train and Also Go to School?
• Alternatives in Education for Figure Skaters

_{Figure Skater Tina Yan Is a Student in St. Andrew's High Performance Athlete's Program - Photo by JO ANN Schneider Farris}

_{An American Girl Doll Wears an Ice Dancing Dress and Figure Skates - Copyright © American Girl}

• How to Dress for Ice Dancing

Wow! Figure skating has gone through so amazing changes during the past ten years! The "Perfect 6.0" is slowly dying and Nicole Bobek is no longer an ice skating star, but a criminal....read more

_{David Pelletier and Jamie Sale of Canada AND Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya of Russia Were Awarded Olympic Gold Medals Due to the 2002 Winter Olympic Pair Skating Scandal - Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images}

Colorado figure skater, Haley Gans, died tragically in a skiing accident this past Friday, November 20, 2009. She was fourteen years old.

Haley brought joy to everyone she touched. Her mother, Pat, told me once that when Haley competed in figure skating competitions, she felt she was competing with people, rather than against them. She passed hugs and smiles around every day, and she brought happiness to the ice skating world.

Many people in figure skating knew and loved Haley. Gans was hearing impaired, but that disability did not stop her from doing great things in skating and in life.

• Readers Share Their Memories of Figure Skater Haley Gans
• My Memories of Haley Gans
• Donate to the Haley Gans Memorial Fund
• Remembering 14 Year Old Haley Gans, Killed In Skiing Accident
• 14-Year-Old Figure Skater Remembered as an Inspiration

_{Haley Gans - Gans Personal Photos}