Meet the Staff
Our highly qualified coaching staff includes regional and national athletes as well as other competitive and recreational skaters. We are committed not only to the technique and artistry of figure skating but also to student-centered teaching principles and modeling positive sportsmanship. We love to teach and take pride in being role models for our skaters.
Directors and 2008-09 Skating Instuctors
Click on your coach’s name to jump to their biography:
- Carey Tinkelenberg
- Liz Bonawitz
- Kittle Evenson
- Kristen Asp
- Kayla Johnson
- Laura Mansell
- Michaela McLaughlin
- Trisha Norberg
- Melanie Ritz
- Amelia Shuster
- Gene Uenishi
- Gao Yang
- Kat Zerebiec
- Ally Shaw
- Caitlin Staab
Carey is an eighteen-year member of U.S. Figure Skating, a USFS Gold test skater and an ISI World Judge. Carey began skating in the Basic Skills Program at age 6. During her competitive career she trained with PSA Master rated and 2007 US Olympic Committee Developmental Coaches of the Year Mark Mitchell, Peter Johansson, and Kate McManus at the Colonial Figure Skating Club in Acton, Massachusetts and the Skating Club of Boston. She was the 1998 New England Regional Silver Medalist and was a National Competitor with The Colonials synchronized skating team. Carey has over 10 years of competitive experience and eight years of coaching and choreography experience. She is a PSA Senior Rated Program Director and Certified Group Instructor. Carey has performed in ice shows and in 2001 and 2002 she was offered touring positions in Europe and Asia with Disney On Ice. Carey has danced for 13 years and is trained in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. She has been a Dance Instructor and Choreographer for dance programs including Phillips Academy in Andover, MA and Starlets in Northfield. Carey earned her B.A. in Psychology from Carleton College. At Carleton she founded Carleton Figure Skaters, worked as Lab Manager of the Carleton College Cognitive Psychology Laboratory, and was a Barista at Goodbye Blue Monday Coffee House. She now works as a Structured Clinical Interviewer at the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research at the U of M Twin Cities. She has written articles for Skating Magazine and PS Magazine, the official publications of US Figure Skating and the Professional Skaters Association, and she has given presentations with Webmaster Gene Uenishi at national skating conferences for US Figure Skating. In addition to skating and psychology, Carey loves music, yoga, cooking, traveling, and the Boston Red Sox. |
Liz was a member of the Ice Skating Institute (ISI) for 12 years before becoming a U.S. Figure Skating coach with the Northfield Skating School when it opened in 2005. In 2006 Liz was hired as the first Assistant Director of NSS. She has competed locally. Liz is a member of the class of 2009 at Carleton College. She is majoring in History and Educational Studies, with a minor in Spanish. She works as a Teaching Assistant for the Carleton Spanish language program and in the future plans to teach European History and/or Spanish at a high school level. Other than skating, she loves British history, cooking, reading and going to concerts. |
Kittel is nineteen years old and a sophomore at Carleton College. Kittel grew up in Northfield and has been skating recreationally since she was three. She started taking private lessons when she was twelve and studied under Carey Tinkelenberg for two years. Kittel started coaching with the creation of Northfield Skating School in 2005. In the summers Kittel attends Concordia Language Villages for Norwegian, works at Target and volunteers at the Northfield Retirement Center’s store. During high school she was an active member of National Honors Society and the Northfield Community Resource Bank’s Jr. Board of Directors. |
Kristen was an eight-year member of the Maplewood Figure Skating Club. She spent one year at Maplewood coaching Basic Skills. Kristen is a junior at Carleton College and began coaching for the Northfield Skating School during the ’06-‘07 season. |
Kayla started skating at the age of 7, and later became a member of the Ice Skating Institute (ISI) at the White Bear Lake Sports Center where she enjoyed taking group and private lessons through middle and high school. Kayla helped as an assistant at the Northfield Skating School last year, and is very excited to be invloved in the skating program again this year! Kayla is a junior at St. Olaf College studying math education. She also enjoys being a member of the St. Olaf track team, being a member of the leadership team for the campus wide Bible study, taking voice lessons, being a mentor of two St. Paul high school students, and learning to play the accordion. Kayla worked as a counselor at a Bible camp this summer and is so excited for the skating season to start because she really loves spending time with kids! |
Laura Mansell started skating at age three, when her parents took her to the local outdoor rink and she immediately fell in love with skating. Since then, she has competed in dozens of competitions and has passed her Junior Freeskate and Senior Moves tests. She was a member of the Roseville and St. Paul Figure Skating Clubs, and coached by Sandy Wittmann. She loves figure skating and hopes to stay connected to the sport for her entire life. She is a sophomore at St. Olaf College and would someday like to become a sports medicine doctor. In addition to skating, Laura is an alpine ski racer for the St. Olaf Ski Team. Outside of her two main sports, Laura enjoys singing, snowboarding, attending church, waterskiing, shopping, exercising in general, and being outside! She loves working with children and is excited to share her love of skating with new people! |
Michaela has been a figure skater for 12 years. She took lessons for many years with her two younger sisters. Michaela entered the competition world when she was in 8th grade. She was a part of the Burnsville Skating Club as well as the ISD 196 Icettes team. While a part of the Icettes, Michaela competed in Synchro as well as many individual and “jump and spin” numbers. In 2003, Michaela and her Icettes team made it to Nationals in Anaheim, California. Her team placed first in the short synchronized routine and 4th in the long synchronized routine! Michaela has much experience working with kids: She coached cross country and track and field for elementary/middle school aged kids for four years. She also leads Children’s Ministry at her church. Michaela designed and taught her own French class for the past four years at an elementary school in her hometown. Now, Michaela is a student at St. Olaf College. She runs cross country and indoor/outdoor track. She hopes to major in French and Spanish and join the Peace Corps after college. |
Trisha took her first skating lesson in September 2002 and was hooked immediately. As an adult skater, the process of learning many of the figure skating moves has proved challenging, but she has found it to be a motivating and rewarding experience. With each new skill learned the sport becomes more exciting and fun which creates a deeper desire to work harder and learn even more. Sharing her passion for the sport with others has also become a fulfilling experience, as the opportunity often arises to share a few tips with friends and even perfect strangers while at the rink. Trisha is very excited to enter her second season with Northfield Skating School and hopes to foster a love of skating among students of all ages and abilities. |
Melanie started skating at Hutchinson Ice Arena at 6 years of age. Throughout her life she has enjoyed skating as a hobby and a competitive sport. She was a member of ISI for twelve years, skating through Freestyle level 8. She competed in many rinks around Minnesota and synchronized skating was an important part of her experience on ice. When she was 13, Melanie joined the Hutchinson Junior Precision Team, the Mini Gems followed by the Senior Precision Team the Ice Diamonds. While in high school she coached freestyle levels 1-3 at Hutchinson Ice Arena. In her college years she continued to skate for fun and exercise. After college she moved to San Diego and continued to skate under her favorite coach and National competitor Clara Hoagland. At the San Diego Ice Arena she also trained with their Adult Snychronized Team. She is now a member of the Professional Skaters Association. Bellydancing, salsa dancing, rollerblading and surfing (when in San Diego) are some other hobbies she enjoys. Melanie has an Associate Science degree and works as a Dental Hygienist in Northfield. In her career she enjoys working with and meeting new people. |
Amelia started skating when she was 11. She was a member of Blade and Edge Figure Skating Club of Omaha for 6 years, completing through Freestyle level 6 and pre-preliminary field moves. She volunteered as a teachers’ assistant for 4 of those years. This is her second year with Northfield Skating School. Amelia is currently a senior at St. Olaf college studying math and German. She has volunteered with Northfield Reads and Counts tutoring at Bridgewater Elementary School and at Head Start preschool. She studied in Germany last spring at the University of Konstanz. |
Gene is an ice hockey player at Carleton College. He is Japanese American who was raised in Ohio but spent 8 years in Tokyo, Japan where he first started skating. He started playing ice hockey recreationaly in 5th grade and took skating lessons to improve his skating abilities. In middle school, he passed the first test in the Japan Figure Skating Association (JFSA). Now, he is in his senior year as a psychology major. His other hobbies include skiing, snowboarding, Japanese Archery, and playing trumpet. He also works part-time at the Northfield Arena and helps manage this Northfield Skating School website. Gene and NSS’s Director Carey have made two national presentations about “Using Technology to Enhance Your Skating Program,” once at the US Figure Skating National Director’s Conference in April 2007 and again at the National Association of Rinks Conference and Expo in May 2007 |
When she was little, Gao dabbled in gymnastics, ballet, jazz, and even tap dancing. However, when she discovered figure skating at age eight, well, that was it for her. From then on, skating was life and she skated competitively. She was a 12-year member of the US Figure Skating Association, a member of the St. Paul Figure Club, and trained with National and International coaches such as Ted Engelking, Annie Shelter, and National and International competitors Jennifer Karl and Rohene Ward. She is also a USFSA Senior Moves in the Field and Novice Freeskate test skater. She has taught skating for four years for the Minnehaha Skating School. She has one sister who also figure skated. Gao loves reading and writing, and is learning Japanese. She is a senior at Carleton College majoring in psychology. Her home is in Saint Paul, MN and she has been coaching with NSS since it first opened in 2005. |
Kat has been skating since she was 5 years old. She is from Chicago and skated at McFetridge and Robert Crown Ice Arena, testing into ISI Freestyle 8. Kat also is a synchronized skater and skated with the Chicago Edge and Chicago Blades for 4 years. She was coached under Olympic Gold Medalist Hank Green. As of now she is starting her third year at Carleton. She is studying biology and studio art. Kat also plays ultimate frisbee with Eclipse, teaches the figure skating class during winter term, and is part of the cycling team. She hopes to someday go to medical school and become pediatric surgeon. Kat loves to learn as well as teach and is super excited to be part of the Northfield Skating School. See you on the ice! |
Skating Assistants
Ally is eighteen years old, a freshman at Carleton College and grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota near the Mall of America. Ally started skating at four years old in the Basic Skills Program and started taking private lessons at six years old. Since 1997, Ally was a member of U.S. Figure Skating and the Figure Skating Club of Bloomington. She has passed her USFSC Senior Moves in the Field and Senior Free Skating Tests. During her competitive career, Ally competed in numerous competitions; was a gold medallist in the 2004 Upper Great Lakes Regional Championships Open Juvenile Division and took second place in the 2004 Minnesota State Competition. Ally has also coached skate school at FSC of Bloomington for the past two years while participating in their yearly ice show. In addition, she was a member of the Bloomington Butterflies for three years. Outside of skating, Ally was a council member of the Kennedy High School orchestra and co-captain of the cross country team. She is also a second degree black belt and is a devoted Vikings football fan. Ally loves children and is very excited to continue her passion for skating at the Northfield Skating School. |
Caitlin is eighteen years old and a freshman at Carleton College. Skating has been a major part of Caitlin’s life since she was 7 years old, and she has trained under Roni Maas, Katie Sutherland, and Angela Ford. After passing her ISI 7, Intermediate Freestyle, and Novice Moves tests, Caitlin graduated and is now a collegiate member of the Burnsville Minnesota Valley Figure Skating Club. She has enjoyed coaching Learn-to-Skate lessons for two years at the Rosemount Arena. One of her favorite skating memories is placing first in the Upper Great Lakes Regional Championships on her 15th birthday! Caitlin is also passionate about math and physics, music, and swing dance. |
Interested in joining our staff? Click to Contact Carey!
