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Flores keeps Robinwood students fit and focused
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Flores (right) yelled "Robinwood!" with her students to show off some school pride.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor.When the kids in her Robinwood gym classes are active, physical education teacher Jen Flores is in her element. During a warm-up that included running laps and sit-ups, Flores (right) watched that they exercised safely and properly, while also joking around with the kids.
By SARAH FOOR
The second-graders at Robinwood Lane Elementary school were so excited for the gym class of Jen Flores to start on Jan. 4, that nearly every student was struggling to stand still.
With the gym right across the hall from the main office, Robinwood principal Don Robinson often sees the students’ excitement for Flores firsthand.
“Jen’s classes always include lots of music and movement, and her students just can’t wait to come to gym each week. She’s always up and enthusiastic, and she just does a phenomenal job,” he shared.
In the gym for Mrs. McConnell’s second-grade class on Jan. 4, Flores played upbeat pop tunes as the students finished their warm-up and began a modified game of tag.
Flores smiled and joked, “I get to wear comfortable workout clothes to my job and hang out with awesome kids all day. It can’t get any better than that.”
Flores’ passion for physical fitness started young. Her father was a physical education teacher in her native Canada, and after coming to YSU on a basketball scholarship, she knew she would go into the family business.
At Robinwood, she has started health programs and events, and a project that aims to get kids more active at home. Her greatest accomplishment, according to her colleagues, is that their students don’t consider their gym class an inconvenience. In fact, they’re excited to get active.
McConnell says “she [Flores] can always find what any student does well, and work with those skills. With Jen, no kid gets left out.”
Student Destiny Foltz said she loves Flores’ class because, “she lets us have free time and she’s always teaching us new activities. She’s always fun.”