MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee roller skating academy is bringing people of all ages and skill levels together on wheels, with a grand opening event and weekly group classes open to the public.
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Skate On 8's, founded by Arian Rice, will hold its grand opening October 1 from 5 to 8 p.m. at 4115 N. Teutonia Avenue in Milwaukee.
Rice also hosts weekly group skating classes every Wednesday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Riverwalk Commons in downtown Milwaukee, directly across from the Milwaukee Public Market under 794. He has kept up the Wednesday classes for the past five months. The cost is $20 per session, and skaters of any experience level are welcome. Slots can be reserved at Skateon8s.com.
"Skate on 8s is a roller skating academy that I started 6 months ago," Rice said. "The goal is to just bring everybody together, you know, bring community, get togetherness going. I love skating, you know, and I want other people to have something to do, bring in new hobbies and whatnot."
The academy offers one-on-one lessons and group classes.
Rice's passion for skating began about three years ago when he got on skates with a friend and became dedicated to the sport. His enthusiasm caught on — someone at an event where he was skating asked him to teach them, and Skate On 8's grew from there.
"Skate on 8's for me is, I feel like a pillar, right?" Rice said. "I want us to be able to have a family outside of our family that we can go to. Sometimes we don't have things to do, and I want Milwaukee to have something else that they can do besides, you know, play sports and things like that."
Rice said he hopes to expand the concept well beyond Milwaukee.
"Since I've started, I've been able to bring a lot of people together and, you know, show people that there are other passions that they can have," Rice said. "I want to turn this into a skate academy franchise basically and have them all over."
Rice is also accepting donations of unused skates to give to people who don't have their own. Those interested in donating can reach out to Rice directly at skateon8s.com
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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