2022 is a wrap!
In 1978, we set out on our mission of “Building Skills for Life” in a small school gym at Windsor Elementary School, and 44 years later, we are flipping out of 2022 with a lot of pride, gratitude, and much to celebrate. We are grateful for everyone that has been a part of the Barron Gymnastics Family and those that continue to trust us as their children build skills that they will have for a lifetime. As we swing into the new year, we want to look back at a few of our favorite moments from 2022.
Quick Stats
This year, we made a huge impact on our community and our students. We held 11,250 classes, 350 team practices, and 8 Ribbon & Stars Show Off Months! We offered 4 instructional performances where we decorated 373 of our gymnasts with ribbons, certificates, and trophies to congratulate them on all of their hard work throughout the year at their classes. We couldn’t be prouder of the hard work and dedication of our students.
Our Special Activities are just that – super SPECIAL!
When we talk about “building skills for life”, it is important to us that we extend this mission far past our classes in order to impact our community. We held 35 camps, bringing joy to 2,021 children. Our back handspring clinics benefitted 285 athletes, providing exceptional training from our experienced coaches that are trained specifically on tumbling technique. Lastly, we celebrated over 120 birthdays, making sure that your child has a special day at a place where children are special every day!
Here we GROW again!
This past year, our full-time leadership team grew from 6 to 12! Those leaders include Danielle Theurer (Department Leader – Safety & Clinics | Assistant Department Leader – Competitive & Back Handspring), Señyel Marin (Department Leader – Girls Gymnastics), Oliver Schrader (Assistant Department Leader – Boys & Facility), Jessica McGraw (Lead Customer Service), Marcia Godfrey (Director of Accounting), and Alex Bargen (Corporate Marketing Director).
Also, congratulations to Melissa Barron (General Manager), Malinda Kaag (Department Leader – Special Activities & Back Handspring), Melissa Bouvatte (Department Leader – Parent & Tot, Juniors, Performances), Tyler Seim (Corporate Property Manager of Gym & Swim & Department Leader of Boys), Delayna Doerr – Department Leader of Customer Service) and Jessica Lemke (Assistant Department Leader of Customer Service) for elevating their responsibilities and taking on new positions in 2022! We are excited to see the growth as our leadership team guides us into the new year.
NEW just for YOU – Upgrades
When it comes to our facility, it is our promise to provide our students and their families with the cleanest and most state of the art equipment. In 2022, we stepped it up a notch when it came to specialized equipment. A new star bar offered additional training opportunities for our athletes, fitting their sizes and needs as well as creating more space and stations. An additional rings set gives all of our students the opportunity for unique strength training through fun and provides our boys program a huge boost in skill building drills. Our floors were given a real face lift with brand new carpets, which also enhanced our exclusive competitive league. We balanced things out with new beams and got things swinging with new uneven bar rails. Our junior students’ imaginations set sail with a beautiful new preschool prop area. To add to the student experience, we added a bell in our lobby for your child to ring proudly to celebrate when they move up to the next level. In addition, our new inflatable has been a hit with the kids at our special activities!
Barron Gives Back
Throughout the year, we collectively raised money for our annual giveback program, Champions Against Cancer. This program raises money for The Costas Center at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. The hospital is a non-for-profit, 195-bed inpatient and outpatient children’s hospital, located in St. Louis, MO. Because of YOU, we are able to once again make a difference in the lives of these children and their families. This year, we raised an astounding $21,048 between both swim schools and Barron Gymnastics. In addition, our team girls donated over 100 gifts to the children in lieu of giving one another Christmas presents. Their act of love could not be greater. Barron has now donated over $76,000 since our Champions Against Cancer Campaign first began. It was and still remains an honor to represent all of your big hearts.
Team Program
The 2021-2022 season’s team theme was “Hustle & Heart”, and our girls showed up at each practice and competition with strong hearts and brave minds! Over the course of the season, our teams had 61 First Place finishes, 76 Second Place finishes, and 74 Third Place finishes. Last but not least, we had 21 state champions! An impressive 75 of our competitive gymnasts made it to state! 4 of our gymnasts qualified to represent Missouri at the Regional Championships. Level 9 gymnast, Hadley Compton, qualified for Nationals in Utah, representing the Region 4 Team. She is the 4 th Barron gymnast in history to achieve such an incredible feat.Under the leadership of Melissa Barron, Barron offered positive and competitive opportunities for gymnasts both in our area and across the nation. We hosted 927 gymnasts at our Achievement League meets and 507 gymnasts at our Annual Barron Invitational competition. Our coaches and meet experience staff created an environment that challenged the talented gymnasts while providing opportunities for fun and confidence building. It was an honor to watch these 1,434 competitors soar!
