Missionary teaches tumbling classes at Kids America
Before Deanna Jolley moved to Coshocton with her husband, she owned one of the biggest tumbling schools in Utah. They are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and will be living here for 18 months. When they discovered Kids America, Jolley realized there were no tumbling classes for children and started classes.
“I’m doing what I love. This is my passion. I do it as a service,” Jolley said. She is looking for an assistant to train so the classes don’t end when she moves back to Utah. Her tumbling school in Utah had about 1,000 students and she sold it to her daughters when she moved to Coshocton.
“Our church has about 60,000 missionaries around the world. We never know where we are going until we get the email. We were in the Marshall Islands for six months, then COVID hit. We had no idea we would be coming to Ohio. The church provides everything for us. We love the apartment we have here and are having fun meeting our neighbors and spending time with them.”
Jolley said she and her husband are here to help wherever they are needed. “We drive the younger missionaries around and are helping scan records in the courthouse. We are just having fun here.” The couple has five children and 13 grandchildren,
“Everyone here is so nice. The most surprising thing is how open everyone is to talk about their religion. In Utah, most people outside of our church are pretty quiet about their religion. There are churches everywhere here. We walk the track here at Kids America and talk to everyone. I feel a little guilty having so much fun when I’m supposed to be here working.”
“It’s so great to work with little children. Our motto is ‘I can do hard things’ and we talk about that in every class. Besides tumbling, I am teaching respect, kindness and how to work as a team. We start every class with a prayer for safety in class.”
Jolley has about 30 students. “Since it’s just me, I didn’t want the classes to be too large – only 12 per class. It wouldn’t be fair for the kids to have to be in a bigger class. It’s always so much fun to see how quickly they learn the skills. The kids have been great and so much fun!”
