Foothills Staff

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FGCC Staff

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Ms. Kim

Gym Owner
 

Biography:
     Kim Patterson is the owner of Foothills Gymnastics and Cheer Center. Kim was a former teacher in Pickens County. Kim is a graduate of Clemson University. She is a Professional Member of United States Gymnastics Association for the past 12 years. Kim is a recipient of numerous awards including Who’s Who Among Business Professionals and was named 2004 South Carolina Business Women of the Year. She has served on various boards including Pickens County Prevent Child Abuse, Easley Chamber of Commerce; Pickens County School District SCORE Board where she was instrumental in helping to write the largest grant ever awarded Pickens County School District of over 1 million dollars. Kim has raised thousands of dollars for local charities and was formerly the Executive Director of the Miss Easley Scholarship Pageant. Kim is a mother of 3 and a grandmother of 3 children.

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Ms. Penny

Special Needs Director

Biography:

        Penny Crocker has been with Foothills since 1996. She has been involved in gymnastics for 32 years (she started when she was 3 years old and still going strong). She competed nationally and internationally as a Level 10 gymnast, as well as competing at the collegiate level for James Madison University. At JMU, Penny was team co-captain both her junior and senior years at college. Penny earned a B.S. degree in Speech-Language Pathology at James Madison University in 1995 and completed her South Carolina Teacher's Certification in Special Education from Clemson University in 2004.

     Penny is the Special Olympics Gymnastics Director and Director of the Gym Buddies Program at Foothills. She has been involved with the Special Olympics since1992. Combining her love for gymnastics and her love for people with special needs is a lifelong dream come true! This will be the fourth year that Foothills has been blessed with an amazing Special Olympics Gymnastics Team (both male and female) that compete both locally and at the state level. The Special Olympics program is growing by leaps and bounds and is adding both Rhythmic Gymnastics AND Cheerleading to their program this year!  

        Penny is married to Kevin and is the proud mother of two sons. Clay is four years old and C.J. is 2 years old and are both seen frequently running around Foothills!  She is an Easley native, but loves to travel, especially to the beach. In her free time, she loves camping, mountain biking, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

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Ms. Virginia

Special Needs Instructor

Biography
     Ms. Virignia teaches preschool classes, parent and tot, and the boys classes. She loves teaching the children, and at the same time learning from them. It's so exciting getting to know all the different personalities.
    
     Ms. Virginia is married to her best friend, Sean Cassell. She has one dog, two hamsters, and a fish. She enjoys bike rides, the mountains, and being outdoors.
    
     Ms. Vigirinia felt her calling to work with children at the age of thirteen. She has recently found the Special Needs Program at Foothills Gymnastics, where she had the opportunity to go to the Special Olympics in Charleston last February. These children are very special and the time spent getting to know them is priceless.
    

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Ms. Sarah

Prep Op Coach

Biography
 

Sarah is the Prep Op coach at Foothills Gymnastics. She coaches Prep Bronze, Silver, and Gold, as well as Prep Novice. She was involved in gymnastics for 7 years, and competed for 4 of those years. She began gymnastics at age 5 and ended her gymnastics career as a competitor at age 12. Sarah competed in the Prep Op program at Aiken Gymnastics. The year that she ended her competitive career Sarah finished first in the All-Around at both the State Meet and Charleston Cup. Sarah has been coaching at Foothills Gymnastics since 2008.

Sarah graduated from Clemson University as an Elementary Education major. She is now attending graduate school for a degree in Counseling. She hopes to one day be a counselor in either an elementary school or a children’s’ hospital.

    

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Ms. Jessica

Prep Op Coach/Instructor
Jessica has bee with Foothills since August 2008. She has worked with the Bronze Level Team, the X-Team, Basic Skills Clsses, Pre-School Classes, Cheernastics and Tumbling. Before coming to Clemson and Foothills she worked at her hometown All-Stars Gym, CheerSouth, as a tumbling instructor and Level 3 assistant coach. She is a rising Senior working towards a degree in Math Teaching at Clemson University and she plans to continue her education at the Graduate level in Secondary Education Administration.

Biography

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Ms. Candace
 
Preschool/Basic Skills/Cheer Instructor

Candace graduated from Pickens High School in 2008 where she played softball and cheered for 2 years. Currently, she is a sophomore at North Greenville University majoring in Broadcast Media. She has been a cheerleader at NGU for 2 years where she cheers for both football and CCA competition. Candace has 6 years of cheerleading experience before going to NGU. In 2009, she was the winner of Miss Freshmen Relay for Life at NGU where she helped raise money for the American Cancer Association. Candance is an associate youth pastor at her church helping to counsel and teach today's youth. She attends the Adult Gymnastics class at Foothills to help her become a more effective instructor. She is working on her Professional Development Level 1 in gymnastics and her CPR certification.   

Miss Kayla Ford
 
Preschool and Basic Skills Instructor
 
Kayla started gymnastics at the age of 7. She started competing at the age of 10 and continued her gymnastics career to Level 8. She was the Level 4 All-Around State of South Carolina Champion in gymnastics.  Kayla began cheering competitively for her high school Belton-Honea Path. She still continued attending gymnastics classes. Kayla is in the graduate program at Clemson University where her major is Wildlife Management.

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Miss Lauren Van Tassel
 
Bronze Prep Op Coach
 
   Lauren was involved in gymnastics for 7 years. After gymnastics, Lauren began cheering in junior high school. She was a cheerleader at Gannon University for the football team, and competition squad. Upon graduation, Lauren began coaching gymnastics and cheerleading at 360 Degrees and Erie Elite. This will be her second year at Foothills coaching Bronze Prep Op.
   Lauren is a fifth grade teacher at Thomas E. Kearns Elementary in Greenville. She has been teaching for five years. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys going out on the lake with her husband, playing various sports leagues, working out, and spending time with friends. Laurens Bronze Team placed 1st at November to Remember Meet in Lake Murray, SC this past season.

Instructor of the Year Award
2008 Penny Crocker
2009 Brittany Holden
2010 Jessica Davis
 
Congratulations to all of our wonderful instructors! You are truly the BEST!

Foothills Gymnastics and Cheer Center 
198 Couch Lane
 Easley, SC  29642
864-855-9660

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