World of Possibilities
here are many ways to define and measure success. If you’re an athlete, such as a gymnast or a rock climber, it could depend on results: did the judge score your routine with a 10 or did you make it to the top? If you’re a business owner, you could count revenue, clients served or years of service.
“We do what is good … what is right … and what is fun,” said Elaine Jewart, pausing to emphasize each word.
That’s how success is defined and measured at Jewart’s Gymnastics.
As the 81-year-old matriarch of this enterprise, Elaine continues to manage and operate Jewart’s Gymnastics, which she founded with her husband, Tom, both of whom are Slippery Rock University graduates from the class of 1966. A former gymnastics instructor who “retired” from coaching in 2004 to exclusively run the business, Elaine is known simply as “Mrs. J” around the gym, although she is technically the owner and CEO.
The mission for the more than 100 employees on staff is simple.
“We’re preparing kids for a world of possibilities in a nurturing environment that provides fun and confidence,” Elaine said. “That’s what we’re all about. That’s what we’ve been about the whole time.”
After growing up in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and attending dance school, Elaine enrolled at SRU to become a teacher. She taught dance privately while at SRU and was a member of The Rock’s gymnastics team. After meeting Thomas at SRU and graduating, the Jewarts moved to California to teach physical education for a few years with intentions of returning to western Pennsylvania to raise a family.
Once they did, Tom became an English teacher, basketball coach and athletic director in the Hampton Township School District and Elaine taught dance to neighborhood kids from their home’s basement in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. Elaine began teaching gymnastics before moving the business out of their home to a 1,400-square-foot “gym” in 1972, adding a second location in 1978. In 1980, they built a 7,000-square-foot gym at their current site in Allison Park, before adding on to the facility in 1984. Along the way, they were joined by her brothers Paul, ’72, Nick, ’77, and Brian, ’83, Fabish, all of whom are SRU graduates who have served as coaches at Jewart’s Gymnastics.
The business flourished with each Olympic year, garnering more interest from youngsters wanting to become the next Olga Korbut, Nadia Comăneci, Mary Lou Retton, Shannon Miller, or, even today, with Simone Biles.
Families bringing all their children to Jewart’s and inviting friends helped grow the demand for space, new sports and teachers, many of whom came from within the Jewart family.
Elaine’s daughters Lainy Carslaw and Katie Hilko coach the Pittsburgh Northstars girls gymnastics team, with Lainy serving as team manager and head coach and Katie as head coach for the Level 8-10 team. Nick Fabish also coaches the girls Northstars team. Her two sons, Ben and Alex, opened their own gyms in Wilsonville, Oregon, and nearby Gibsonia, respectively.
Katie’s husband, Patrick, is the director and co-lead teacher for the Wildwood Forest Kindergarten and the Jewart’s facility chairperson, and Nick’s daughter, Annie, works with Wildwood. Lainy’s son Pax and the Hilko’s son Jayce are also active with the Climb North rock climbing team.
Jewart’s philosophy is passed down to her family, but also to the staff and “adopted families” –– those who, like the Jewart’s, have multiple members who work there. They all emphasize development over competition.
“I don’t care if they win; they’re not here to win,” Elaine said. “It’s about learning to love it, perform it and share it. Some of them go into a different sport, some come back to help us coach and some of them bring their kids here.”
The unconventional approach to teaching might seem like a departure from where her path started at SRU, a school rooted in excellence in health and physical education, which dates to the early 20th century when the Pennsylvania Department of Education designated SRU’s focus for preparing physical education teachers. Elaine chose to apply her ethos as a teacher outside of the classroom and school system. While women in the 1970s were mostly teachers, coaches and choreographers, Elaine was owning and building her own gym. She innovated further by creating the forest kindergarten program, inspired by methods she picked up in California.
Children enrolled in the program spend their time entirely outdoors, immersed in nature without a lesson plan. This allows them to create, explore and develop on their own terms, which research has shown to benefit children cognitively, socially and emotionally, as well as physically.
“It’s totally based around the child and what they’re feeling that day that they want to do,” Elaine said.
There’s a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio in the program, and typically children attend for two and a half hours, four days per week.
Jewart’s also innovates in the climbing space as well. Built in 1993, their indoor climbing wall is among the oldest walls of its kind in the country. They continue to operate a 16-foot wall, a climbing cave, and three, 22-foot auto-belay climbing walls that were used as a model for the climbing was that was installed in SRU’s Aebersold Recreation Center.
Whether it’s expanding the physical structures or opportunities for learning, the Jewart’s philosophy knows no limits.
“I wanted to be a teacher, but I was able to create this and grow and grow and grow,” Elaine said. “That’s how it started.”
There’s no telling how it will finish when you consider the thousands of lives she’s touched and the world of possibilities she opened for people over the last 56 years.
