Back to School Means Back to Becoming

September has always felt a little bit like New Year’s to me.

New backpacks. New teachers. New routines. New shoes that somehow won’t fit by November.

And at the gym, a new season.

This is the time of year when families are choosing what comes next. Soccer or dance? Gymnastics or piano? One activity or three? Which night? Which class? Which thing is worth fitting into an already very full family calendar?

I know registration can look like choosing a class from a schedule.

But I’ve never really thought of it that way.

You’re choosing where your child will spend their time.

You’re choosing the adults who will know their name.
The people who will notice when they’re having a hard day.
The place where they will be challenged, frustrated, encouraged and celebrated.

You’re choosing what happens when they can't do something the first time.

And maybe that's why I still care so much about getting it right.

At Renaissance, we teach gymnastics. Of course we do.

There are lesson plans and progressions and handstands and cartwheels and pullovers and beam routines. There is an enormous amount of thought behind what we teach and how we teach it.

But those things have never been the whole point.

Because somewhere between the first attempt and the fiftieth, something else happens.

A child learns to try something that scares her.

She learns that “I can't” just means “I can't yet.”

She learns to listen to her body. To trust a coach. To cheer for someone else. To take correction. To be proud of progress that nobody outside the gym may ever notice.

And, inevitably, she falls.

Then she learns how to get back up.

That is the heart of what you're registering for.

Not a perfect cartwheel.

Not a medal.

Not even gymnastics, really.

You're choosing another little corner of your child's world — another place helping shape who they are becoming.

I don't take that choice lightly.

After all these years, I still stand in this gym and think about that responsibility. I still make lesson plans. I still rethink progressions. I still watch coaches coach and kids learn. I still ask whether what we're doing serves the child in front of us.

Because childhood is short.

Their afternoons matter.

Their coaches matter.

The places where they spend their time matter.

And if you choose to let RGA be one of those places this school year, we're pretty honored to be part of it.

Welcome back.

There is so much more to become.

Be More. 🐝
Miss Jen