Our History
In a basement...
Jewart’s Gymnastics started in a basement on Emerald Drive in Ingomar, in 1969. Actually, it didn’t have a name at that time, but it did have a purpose; to teach dancing lessons to the neighbor kids. There was a pre-school program and several classes for elementary school-age kids. The goal was to have a school that gave kids the best things that I had learned from 12 years of dancing lessons, four years as a Slippery Rock Gymnast, and three years of teaching physical education for the Los Angeles City School District. The standard was to be “the best,” meaning that it would be really fun, it would teach with the best technique, and it would be creative. The kids would “show off” their skills to get recognition. It was an unwritten mission statement that has lasted for 50 years.
At the Car Wash...
It was 1972, the year that Olga Korbut dazzled the world with her innovative routines, that we expanded to the Dance/Gymnastics School under Adzema’s Pharmacy and that my brother Paul joined me. Our enthusiasm about starting a gymnastics team and bringing something new to the community gave us excitement and a common goal. Our successes in competition whet our appetite to grow the business. The “gym” under the pharmacy was 1400 square feet. It had brick pillars in the center of two rooms and 10 foot ceilings.
We needed a bigger facility, so in 1976, we added a second location on Route #8 above Anderson’s Car Wash. We hired our brother, Nick and Allison Hoburg to team-teach with us. Mary Jayne Sirianni Terak was our next employee.
To our building now....
In 1980, we built the 7000 square foot gym on Wildwood Rd. Fortunately, our new facility was a great drawing card and we weathered the boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games and the recession.
In 1984, with the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, we added 4000 feet to the side of the gym and built the first preschool area. We also built the “gym house” for Paul. The strong support of gym parents helped us continue expanding the gym for the next 12 years. And as the enrollment grew, we brought in our brothers, Brian and Nick to head our developmental and boys programs and boys team.
In 1990 we moved into the 90’s with a real office manager, a computer and an answering machine. The gym took a significant step to become a more serious business.
The 90’s brought the addition of the second generation of Jewart’s to work at the gym. My sons Randy, Alex and Ben certainly added innovation and a challenge to the status quo to the business. In 1992, during the Barcelona Games we completed our next addition. We expanded the rear of the gym to set up a second vault runway and the boys’ area and added the Lucky Star gym and dance room downstairs.
The rockwall pit area was added in 1993 and in 1994 we moved the pre-school gym upstairs and put in our awesome cave climbing area.
A long-awaited addition to Climb North was built in 2011.
The Twenty-first Century arrived. Lainy joined the staff full-time in 2001 after graduating from Pitt. Katie retuned from Colorado in 2009 and joined her siblings as a Northstar Coach.
The rec gym managers along with their staffs handle the 900 + kids a week who enter the rec gym each week.
The growth of our programs has kids competing in 5 different Olympic Sports: Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics, Rhythmic, T & T, Sport Climbing.
We are ever growing and trying to find new ways to bring our mission to the families of the North Hills.
Our legacy
Over the years, we have been honored by, the University of Pittsburgh, Katz School of Business as the 1999 Family Business of the Year.
Mrs. Jewart is a Hall of Fame athlete from Slippery Rock University, recognized for pioneering gymnastics. She is also a distinguished recipient of Pennsylvania’s 50 Best Women in Business, an award winner from the Women and Girls Foundation for “Leveling the Playing Field” for women, and a top 25 Women in Pittsburgh honoree.
The growth and evolution of Jewart’s Gymnastics has been due to the commitment our family has to the kids we coach and the joy we find in developing youngsters in the sport of gymnastics and more.
The support of the parents of the kids we have worked with, have inspired and influenced our decisions more than they will ever know. The final key has been the wonderful staff and the former gymnasts that have worked with us over the years that have been instrumental in helping us carry on our mission.