Mikaela Shiffrin – USA’s Youngest Ski Champion Did It With Hard Work

Mikaela Shiffrin is now a 21 year old girl from Colorado.  She is also the youngest World Cup ski champion in the history of the USA and a 3 time winner of the World Cup.  Yet, her goal has never been to win championships but just to keep getting better at what she does.

So, how did Mikaela become so good at such a young age?  It comes down to loving what she does, hard work and great family support.

Mikaela started skiing down her driveway when she was six years old and always had a desire to get better.  As she was growing up, she learned the value of hard work by helping her family re-do their entire lawn and paint their house when she was just ten years old.

Her strong work ethic and love of skiing inspired her year after year to improve.  Her parents always supported her, but never pressured her to try to win.  Instead, they focused on family, fun and helping their kids be the best they could be at whatever they wanted to.

Check out Mikaela’s inspiring story and meet her family as well!

Additional Resources:

• Learn more about Mikaela’s accomplishments here at the Team USA Website
• Watch other great IMK stories about children and adults that exhibit perseverance and passion
• Read IMK’s list great quotes for kids about hard work and doing your best
• Check out other inspiring IMK stories and quotes about sports

Topics for Discussion:

• What is most special about Mikaela?
• When do you try your hardest at something?  What inspires you to do so?  What is the result?  How does it make you feel?
• Talk about a person you know that always tries their best.  Is there anything you can learn from them?
• Can you remember a story that you have read where the characters benefited from their hard work?  Or how about a story where a character did not work hard?

Take Action:

• Choose one thing in your life where you are not doing your best and make a commitment to change this.  Start doing it and see how it makes you feel.
• Work hard at something that matters to you.  Find a cause that you care about, such as animals, and find something you can do to help. Click here for a great list of ideas to help animals from the ASPCA or here for ways to help the environment.

Teacher Features:

• Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for elementary school students.
• Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for middle school students.