Gymnastics Staff
PeaJay Craig - Preschool Director
Erica Sapinski - School Age Director
Renee Campbell - Head Team Coach
Thecla Gavin - Kids in Motion Director
Jalynn Willis - Special Events Director
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Gymnastics StaffPeaJay Craig - Preschool Director Erica Sapinski - School Age Director Renee Campbell - Head Team Coach Thecla Gavin - Kids in Motion Director Jalynn Willis - Special Events Director
 Ms Dawn has over 20 years of experience teaching gymnastics and tumbling to both the recreational and competitive athlete. Many of her competitive students have won state, regional and national titles and earned college athletic scholarships. Ms Dawn has also served as the director for several local gymnastics/tumbling/cheerleading programs, projects and events. Most notably, she is currently the co-founder and director of the St. Jude Benefit Gymnastics meet held annually at the Peoria Civic Center. She also served 10 years on the Illinois USA Gymnastics State Board. Her gymnastics experiences go beyond the national borders as she has been a guest coach in Arequipa, Peru and studied the national program in Deva, Romania. Ms Dawn recently retired from coaching competitive gymnastics to focus on sharing her skills and talents with the beginning level students. She believes that by providing students with sound, fundamental and technically correct skill development at the basic levels, they will achieve more long term success should they decide to pursue competitive gymnastics, tumbling or cheerleading. Ms Dawn received a BA in Psychology from Augustana College. She is married to John Kocher and has three children: Ryan, Katelyn and Rachel. She is excited to provide the Peoria area with a fresh approach to gymnastics and tumbling and believes that Jump Start Gymnastics is the place where children of all ages can receive the best training from the most qualified staff in the area. Her goal is that every child who participates at Jump Start will experience the joy of success in a safe, FUN, learning environment.
 Ms. Cassandra is a former top Level 10 gymnast in Illinois who graduated from Northern Illinois University with her degree in Elementary Education. At NIU, she competed for the Woman’s Gymnastics Team. Ms. Cassandra joins Jump Start Gymnastics as a part time instructor. Her focus will be on development of the pre-team program. Ms. Cassandra brings a lot of personal experience, from both gymnastics and the classroom, that she is excited to share with students.
 Ms Jenny has been coaching gymnastics, from preschool to competitive team, for eight years. She is a former competitive gymnast and tumbler herself. Ms Jenny earned a Bachelors degree from Bradley University in Family and Consumer Science with a minor in Sociology. She has also had the privilege of coaching gymnastics at the famous Flip Fest Gymnastics Camp in Tennessee and at ___?Send Ms. Jenny an email.  Ms Thecla is a former college gymnast who represented Texas Women’s University at the 2004 USAG College Nationals. She is a former Level 10 gymnast who trained in the Peoria area in her younger years. In fact, Dawn Kocher was one of her Team Coaches at one point! Ms Thecla is in training for ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapy, which is used most notably to treat autism spectrum disorders. She has experience working with children in preschools, daycares and gymnastics camps and has taught gymnastics and tumbling students in Texas and locally. When not at the gym, Ms Thecla enjoys spending time with friends and her cat Zoe. Send Ms. Thecla an email.  Ms Renee is a former Level 9 gymnast who received a 9.9 on vault. Prior to her Level 9 status, she was a Level 7 State Vault Champion. After graduating from ISU with a degree in Criminal Justice, she worked as an intern at the Peoria County Juvenile Probation Department. After competing for 13 years, Ms Renee turned to coaching gymnastics. Ms Renee has lead the Jump Stars team to 1st place status at a number of meets. Ms Renee is also a big fan of Brittney Spears. She recently won tickets to a Brittney Spear’s concert after participating in a dance contest. Yes, she can dance too!Send Ms. Renee an email.  Ms PeaJay is one of the most talented, fun and enthusiastic teachers we have here at Jump Start. Ms PeaJay was a gymnast throughout her childhood and young adult life, and also the cheerleading captain during her high school years. Ms PeaJay has many years of coaching gymnastics and power tumbling under her belt. Along with her love for teaching children, she enjoys her love of puppy dogs and spending time with her three beautiful sons, Kal, Kolt and Brogan.
Send Ms. Ellie an email. Coming soon. Send Ms. Kayla an email. Coming soon. Send Ms. Paighton an email. Coming soon. Send Ms. Mic an email.  Paula joins Jump Start Gymnastics as the Business Manager. She has over 30 years of business management experience. She retired from the communications industry (Lucent Technologies) five years ago. After a short retirement, she went back to work as the Executive Director at the St. Jude Midwest Development Office and later, as the Business Manager at the Peoria Ballet. She has once again retired, only to help her daughter, Dawn with her new business venture. Jump Start relies on her expertise to build solid business practices to ensure the longevity of Jump Start Gymnastics in the Peoria Community.
 Ms Rachel took gymnastics recreationally many moons ago, but has always enjoyed the sport. After working with Paula at Peoria Ballet, she decided Jump Start sounded like a fun place to work, so she joined the staff as an office assistant. After the business grew, she stepped in as the Office Manager, assisting with the website and development of marketing materials too. Ms Rachel graduated from Bradley with degrees in Communication/Advertising and Sociology. When she’s not busy working, you can find Ms Rachel renovating her recently purchased first home.
 Ms Stephanie started gymnastics when she started walking. She competed until she was 10 and then due to an ankle injury, took some time off. She realized she missed it and returned to tumbling. Ms Stephanie has been teaching for roughly 12 years off and on. She “absolutely loves it!” and says it’s the highlight of her day. Spending more time at Jump Start would be great she says, but Ms Stephanie keeps busy by working full time at Power 92. Ms Stephanie likes to spend her free time with husband Josh and their guinea pig Gordon, who they treat like a dog. “Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your child’s life and share something that means so much to me!” –Ms Stephanie Interesting Notes:
 Send Mr. Aaron an email.
 Ms Jalynn is a former competitive gymnast from the Peoria area who also trained under Dawn Kocher & Aaron Tilton. She also competed and placed Second in Tumbling at Nationals. Ms Jalynn teaches a bit of everything including, preschool, school age, Kids in Motion and cheerleading. She is also the Special Events Coordinator, planning and creating all of our fun and exciting extra events. Outside of the gym, Ms Jalynn enjoys spending time with her boyfriend Nate and her puppy Riley.Send Ms. Jalynn an email.  Ms. Erica has been a gymnastics instructor for all levels from toddlers to team for the last thirteen years. She has taught in Peoria, Des Moines, IA and Monterey, CA. Ms. Erica recently returned from China, where she spent three years working as an event manager for events such as the Special Olympics, Paralympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Drake University and received a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Monterey Institute for International Studies. As the School Age Director, Ms. Erica is in charge of the girls’ gymnastics, boys’ gymnastics, tumbling and cheerleading programs. Send Ms. Erica an email. Through high school and part of college, Ms Dawn competed in gymnastics and has also taught recreational gymnastics on and off since then. She has taught at the Milwaukee Recreation Department, Whitewater Recreation and Whitefish Bay Rec Program. Ms Dawn attended University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she received a BBA in Accounting. She has recently returned to attend the Bradley University MBA Program. During her free time, Ms. Dawn spends time with her spring spaniel named Ernie, enjoys reading and NFL Sundays. Send Ms. Dawn an email. Ms. Mary Kay joins Jump Start a few mornings a week as preschool instructor. She has been a part of the gymnastics world for years, as she started at age 5 and competed for nearly 13 years. She won the Level 6 State competition and was awarded by Olympian Betty Okino. By the time she left for college, Ms Mary Kay was competing Level 9 and training Level 10. Ms Mary Kay attended Northern University and received a degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Athletic Training. In addition to teaching at Jump Start, she is the Head Athletic Trainer for Limestone Community High School through Great Plains Orthopaedics. Ms Mary Kay began teaching gymnastics in high school, while still competing herself, and continued while at NIU as the DeKalb Park District Gymnastics Director. When she’s not busy with her two jobs, she likes to spend time with her husband watching the Bears and Cubs games! Interesting Notes:
|
||
| Enroll | Links | Employment | Contact | Search | Privacy & Terms of Use | Site Map | |||