Finding Balance Through Artistic Roller Skating

For many people, roller skating brings back memories of childhood birthday parties in the 1980s and 90s, but for Dr. Shaun Bauer, Upper School Spanish teacher, roller skating has been a competitive sport and a lifelong source of joy.

When he was seven years old, he went to a school party at The Roller Ranch in Kissimmee, a rink where he recalls his love for skating taking off. “I was more of the bookish kind of character,” Dr. Bauer said. “I didn't really enjoy P.E., but there was something about skating that drew me in.”

He asked for a pair of skates for Christmas and began practicing on the back patio of his family's home. Before long, his mother decided it was time to get him off the patio and into formal lessons. His younger sister joined him, and skating soon became a family activity.

He began competing in artistic roller skating at the national level and continued until he was 19 years old, during which time he also participated in dance skating with his sister. After starting college, he took a break from skating. His love for it never faded away, but he would spend the next few years pursuing his education and career, earning a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Florida State University and a master’s degree and PhD, both in Spanish, from Tulane University.

After college, he spent time working outside the classroom in corporate education where he created materials for language learning. And about three years ago, he began looking for a way to get some exercise and decided to give skating another try. “I got a pair of cheap skates to skate outside, went to the rink once, stepped on the floor, and I was like, ‘I have to do this again,’” he recalls.

He returned to the rink as an artistic skating club coach, but he admits that seeing everyone skating made him want to get back out there himself. And after a three-decade hiatus, he returned to competitive skating.

Last year, he found a new skating partner who lives in New Hampshire. Because of the distance, they practice by alternating trips between Florida and a rink in Massachusetts. At their most recent national competition, he and his partner placed first in their event and the six members of their skating club brought home 12 medals. “We’re a small but mighty team,” he said proudly.

That same year, he decided to return to the classroom and joined Montverde Academy’s Upper School teaching faculty. “The classroom was calling me back, and I was happy that it was Montverde’s classroom,” he said. What drew him to Montverde Academy was the overall mission and feel of the school, and what continues to impress him is the sense of balance that MVA students seem to have. Balance, he claims, is at the heart of his passion for skating. “Balance, which you could take to mean balance on skates, but balance, in the sense of well-roundedness, is one of the things that impressed me so much when I first came to Montverde Academy and something that continues to impress me,” he shared, noting the well-roundedness of his students who are balancing academics, athletics, the arts, and other extracurricular activities.

Teachers, he pointed out, are people with their own interests, passions, and need for activities that bring fulfillment outside of work. For him, skating provides that outlet, and that, in turn, has an impact on the way he shows up in the classroom. “Feeling a sense of fulfillment and joy from an activity that I do in my free time allows me to then be present,” he said. “I feel like I am more present for my students because of that.”

What started as a childhood hobby that developed into a competitive pursuit now brings him balance, and he is enjoying every turn.