Detroit — After a snowfall that stuck, Detroiters took advantage of winter games and activities at the riverfront Sunday.

The Fire and Ice Festival at Robert Valade Park attracted families, especially those who are fans of the animated kids’ movie “Frozen.” Elsa, one of its main characters, visited the park Sunday afternoon.

Johnathan Schultz of Detroit, 45, was strolling his 6-month-old baby while his 4-year-old daughter Norah, who’s a “Frozen fanatic,” was blowing off steam with winter activities until she could meet Elsa.

“She was pretty hyped for it. … People are always complaining that it’s cold, I personally love the cold,” Schultz said.

“She didn’t want to sit in the ice throne. I think the ice throne was a little intimidating for her 4-year-old brain, but mom sat in the ice throne so we got a winning pic out of that.”

The Fire and Ice Festival was named after “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the book series that inspired “Game of Thrones.” The festival also featured ice sculpting, medieval strolling performers who held adventure quests for families, activities like inflatable ax throwing and sledding, live bands and items from local vendors.

Jodi Arka of Allen Park, 38, brought her 5-year-old twins, 8-year-old and 3-year-old to the festival. She wanted to get the kids out of the house during the winter season. They played inflatable basketball, throwing basketballs at multiple rims.

“We went to Atwater (Brewery), had lunch and then let them play the games in the park, check out the ice sculptures,” Arka said.

Roslyn Wiseman of Detroit, 53, was with her 3-year-old granddaughter and husband who she watched sled down a hill at the park. Her granddaughter and other girls were able to take pictures with Elsa.

“We wanted to bring the baby out so that she could sled, to get her in some participation in some cold weather fun,” Wiseman said. “I like to do things in the city, so when I see something pop up in the city we try to make it down.”

Darcie Burton of Detroit was cuddling up with her 8-month-old boy at a giant fireplace. Her 3-year-old daughter loves Elsa which was the selling point for making it out to Sunday’s event.

“We like that there’s snow on the ground,” Burton said. “We were a little bit bummed out that nobody was here a few weeks ago when it first snowed but now that it’s after the holidays, this is a great place to go.”

Until Feb. 23, parkgoers will find winter games, sledding, fireplaces, Fireside Fridays with karaoke and Self Care Sundays featuring mindfulness classes as part of Winter at Valade Park.

mjohnson@detroitnews.com

@_myeshajohnson

Hamidreza Majidi developed a love for math and started teaching it in his home country of Iran two decades ago. 

After a lengthy career in Iran’s capital city of Tehran, Majidi, 57, is now bringing his passion to Milwaukee as a corps member of Teach For America Milwaukee. Teach For America, or TFA, is a leadership development program that trains people to become educators and leaders in local communities across the country. 

‘A long, long process’

Majidi’s journey to teach in an American classroom began soon after he and his family arrived in the United States in 2013, following the lead of his brother who had lived here since 1974. 

Majidi settled in San Diego and initially enrolled in English as a second language classes at San Diego Miramar College to improve his English, driven by his dream of teaching in America. 

Despite having the necessary certification to teach in Iran, Majidi had to meet new requirements to teach in the U.S.

“I was a teacher in Tehran, and I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I understood that to be a math teacher I needed to get a bachelor’s degree and a certificate,” Majidi said. “But I knew it was a long, long process.” 

Following his English as a second language classes, Majidi pursued an associate degree in applied math. During that time, he worked as a math tutor while studying, gaining experience that now helps him in the classroom. 

From there, he followed his daughter to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was accepted to study physics. They both graduated in May, and Majidi started with Teach For America that summer. 

Now he is working as a math teacher at Milwaukee’s Carmen High School of Science and Technology- South campus, a charter school located at 1712 S. 32nd St.

Lessons learned outside the classroom

Majidi moved to America with his entire family in his mid-40s.  He said there were many times when he wanted to quit on his long journey to becoming a teacher in the U.S., but he learned the importance of patience and perseverance.

“I’m not very young. So imagine that being the head of the family, moving to the United States around age 45, it wasn’t easy to get to this point,” he said. “It was very hard. I had to support my family and there were financial issues. Just many, many different things.” 

Despite the challenges that came with pursuing his education and dreams of becoming a teacher, Majidi emphasized that his love of math and wanting others to love it too kept him going. 

“Someone told me that pressure made diamonds,” he said. ”It was an amazing statement for me. So the important thing that I learned is that if you are patient, follow your dreams, be flexible and keep going.” 

Two graduates, one family

Dorsa Majidi called her dad’s hard work exciting and unbelievable. 

“It’s not that I didn’t believe in him because I do,” she said. “But with personal hardships and working to provide and going to school, I just thought my dad would need more time.” 

But she said her father has always had an unwavering determination in everything he’s done. 

“He really cares about people and his passions, and when he is passionate about something, he puts all of himself into that thing whether it’s his family or school or his students,” she said. 

Bringing individuals like Majidi into communities and empowering them to be the best teachers that they can be is the main aim of Teach for America, said Michael Nguyen, executive director. 

“TFA recruits those who have leadership experience in their field and have alignment with TFA’s mission,” Nguyen said.  

Understanding culture

Majidi said he is taking everything he has learned into the classroom with him. 

“My first experience with math was terrible, so for a long time, I didn’t like it,” he said. “But I’ve learned it’s all in how you teach it. When you understand it, it feels great, and I want to find ways to make it enjoyable for students.” 

Majidi said it’s important to understand the different cultures and dynamics of the students he’s serving. 

“As teachers, we need to make ourselves familiar with the culture, because it is very important to the area you’re working,” he said. “Whether students are African American, Hispanic or Spanish, we need to know something about this culture before diving into that position.” 

For more information

For more information, visit the Teach For America website.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Snowfall ended on Sunday morning, leaving about 1 inch in the Twin Cities metro area with blowing snow expected to continue throughout the day. 

Snowfall totals

What we know:

Snowfall wrapped up Sunday morning, leaving behind larger accumulations further north of the Twin Cities metro. 

Here’s a look at snow totals across the state from Saturday into Sunday:

• Red Wing: 1 inch
• St. Paul: 1 inch
• Minneapolis: 1-1.3 inches
• Coon Rapids: 1.8 inches
• Hibbing: 2 inches
• Nowthen: 2 inches
• Monticello: 1.5 inches
• St. Cloud: 2.2 inches
• Alexandria: 3 inches
• Baxter: 5.5 inches
• Coleraine: 4.6 inches
• Brainerd: 6 inches
• NWS Duluth: 6.7 inches 

Minnesota crashes

By the numbers:

The Minnesota State Patrol reported that between noon on Saturday and 8:30 a.m. there were 188 property damage crashes across the state, 25 injuries, 85 vehicles off the road, 10 vehicles off the road, 10 vehicle spin outs and three jackknifed semis.