Ford School second-graders earn yellow belts

LYNN – Ford School second-graders showed off their newly acquired martial arts prowess Wednesday during a yellow belt ceremony before school officials, parents and friends. The second-graders were afforded the opportunity to take free Taekwondo lessons in lieu of typical gym classes thanks to a grant from Master D.W. Kim’s U.S. Taekwondo Center, explained Principal Claire Crane.”They are super cute,” said physical education teacher Jessica Forgione, who took the lessons along with her students.Crane said a former student who is involved with the Taekwondo studio asked if the school would be interested in doing the lessons. The trick was to fit them in without taking away from time and learning, Crane said. The result was substituting the lessons for gym class, which was within the parameters of the curriculum.The Korean Cultural Services of New York bought the students, which included Forgione, uniforms. The first stage is white belt, but after spending eight weeks learning the basic tenets and moves of Taekwondo, Forgione said students graduated to a yellow belt during Wednesday’s ceremony, where they also put on a presentation of their new skills.Forgione said the goal for the school was to work with students older than first grade. She decided to go with the second-graders and “the good majority got into it. Most of the kids were really receptive and really seemed to enjoy it.”Crane said the hope is the studio will work with third-graders next quarter, but the details are still being worked out.After Wednesday’s ceremony, life in gym class goes back to normal. Forgione joked that topping those lessons was going to be tough.”I will have to come up with some very creative lesson plans after this,” she said.