Santa Monica Gymnastics Center Reunion and Celebration Party!

As many of you know Santa Monica Gymnastics Center is closing it's doors after 35 years of business. We invite everyone to save this date: Saturday February 23rd from 3-8 PM! We are having a Reunion and Celebration Party and everyone is invited.  There is nothing special being organized.... it is just a chance for those of you who have spent time at SMGC to come in and play, reconnect, and catch up with others from years past. It is a great chance to come in and say good bye to some of your child's current coaches. If you are a current student you can find out where your child's teacher is going to be teaching.

It will be a pot luck-low key kind of event. We are going out of business so we can't spring for a fully catered affair :)  Please feel free to bring a dish, food or beverage donation! The more the merrier!

Feel free to bring friends and family! Our coaches are all looking forward to celebrating SMGC!

I do have another update:

My dad, AL Luber, will be joining the coaching team at Los Angeles School of Gymnastics. Heather Bryson has also been hired on at LASG. A few of our other coaches are helping with the transition of our students over at LASG. However, whether they are kept on beyond the initial transition phase really depends on the loyalty of our current clients. Many of our classes are transferring over to LASG in the same time slots. However, any classes with less then 3 students will not continue. If you wish to continue on at LASG please talk with your teacher to arrange a class at a different time or find friends to bring to your child's class. Many of our wonderful coaches will only have jobs as long as the classes remain full. Please support your teachers!

Many people have been asking me what I am going to be doing. I am not transferring over to LASG. My decision was very difficult. I love the staff I work with. Working for my family has been the best job I have ever had. It has not been without it's difficulties but it has been the most rewarding and fun job I have ever had. I joined up with SMGC about 5 years ago when I was in an unemployment slump. I was not thrilled about the opportunity but I was desperate for a job! I had been working a retail job for 3 years after college that stripped me of all confidence. It was a mind numbing existence. People treated me horribly and I really began to feel that I would never escape the world of corporate retail. I was interested in fashion design and art but went to college and graduated with a degree in Sociology. To this day I still do not know what I want to do with my life and I am okay with that.

Anyhow, this job teaching at SMGC evolved into a wonderful experience. The staff I have worked with for the last couple of years has been amazing. I have never worked with such a cohesive group of people who support each other and are teaching these kids because they love it. They are fun, nurturing, responsible, and most of all respectful towards each other and everyone around them. I am really going to miss working with all of them. My coworkers are my friends and it will be near impossible to find a great group like this again. I also love watching my dad coach. You know that feeling when you really see someone for who they are when they are in their element?  When I see my dad coach I see so much passion and knowledge flow out of him. I think that it the thing I will miss the most.

I chose not to try to get a job at LASG because I need to figure some things out for myself. I will be unemployed but hopefully not for long. I am open to suggestions! I have not decided whether I am going to go back to school to study Child Development or whether I will delve into the design/art/craft world.  It is hard because I am the person who works... so I can craft and sew.  I do not care much about money. I just want to be comfortable enough to pay the bills, eat, craft and spend time with friends and family. It is not that I am not ambitious. I am very ambitious. My ambitions lie more towards enjoying and appreciating every moment in life. I want to plant seeds of gratitude in moment and in every breath of my existence. If I have to work a less then glamorous job to cultivate the quality of life I enjoy then that is what I will do. I really believe in the idea of joyful effort. I do not have a life plan and probably never will. I found love when I wasn't looking and will probably find a job when I walk to the corner store to buy half and half and I am wearing pajamas and have sleepy crust in my eye! That is just the way my life works. My future remains unknown and my heart remains wide open and that is all I know for now.

I will really miss my students. I recommend that my students transfer to a different time or day and go with teachers Teri, Robyn, or Heather. Most of my students have had one or all of these teachers before. If they haven't, don't fret, they are great teachers! Each one of them is warm, compassionate, nurturing, and passionate about teaching your kids! Before you decide to try another gym besides LASG, I encourage you to try a class with one of these teachers first!

I will miss everyone! If any of my students or parents would like to remain in contact you can email me at carol.luber@gmail.com!

Comments

[wordsmith]

Carol,

I'm going to miss the family atmosphere at SMGC. It was so informal; yet I felt the staff never took advantage of your parents' leniency as "the bosses". They were never "bossy". They gave us so much support and freedom that I think it makes staffers take ownership of the gym. It's really been a second home for me.

Thanks for all your hardwork. It did not go past me, the pride you have in watching your dad at work. He's an amazing person.

Good luck in your pursuits!

[wordsmith]

Oh, btw...I know gmail has a strong spam filter; but you might want to change the "@" in providing your email addie. Write it out as something like "jane.doe AT gmail dot com".