WILSON SCHOOL OF GYMNASTICS & DANCE

Joyce Donatelli
Mrs. Donatelli founded The Wilson School of Gymnastics & Dance in 1984 and was the director for 25 years. She began WSGD as a “hobby job” that came out of her two passions, educating young people and gymnastics. Thus was born the philosophy of WSGD, an educationally sound program for the development of children that also teaches the love and fundamentals of gymnastics.  

Our programs, based on this philosophy, have blossomed over the years and have grown to incorporate dance and cheerleading classes as well as competitive gymnastics and cheerleading.

Mrs. Donatelli is also Professor Emeritus of Exercise and Sport Science at Wilson College.  During her tenure at Wilson she was the Director of the Exercise and Sport Science program.

Mrs. Donatelli recently retired after dedicating over 30 years to coaching and judging gymnastics. She continues to serve as a consultant and mentor for WSGD. We are proud to continue the tradition of running safe, educationally sound, and enjoyable cheerleading, dance and gymnastics programs through the foundation laid by Mrs. Donatelli.

Rod Burdge (Mr. Rod)
Co-Owner - A 1981 graduate of Chambersburg Area High School, Mr. Rod trained with Tom Seward at the Chambersburg YMCA from 1979 to 1981 and was himself an accomplished gymnast.  Mr. Rod has over 30 years of experience teaching, and coaching gymnastics and is a remarkably gifted teacher.  Still a child at heart Mr. Rod brings creativity and fun into the tot and tiny tots classes and is a favorite of the older girl's and boy's classes.  As Co-Director of WSGD he is actively involved in all the programs but still teaches gymnastics classes which are truly his passion.  Rod is also a USAG level 1 through 4 skills evaluator, USAG Professional Member and USAG Safety Certified.

Dolores White (Lefty)
Co-Owner - Every successful organization has at its heart people who are excellent at organizing and administering its work.  Dolores (Lefty) is the person at the Wilson School of Gymnastics and  Dance who can answer all of your questions regarding our educational programs, special events and activities.  For prompt service with a smile, feel free to ask her about our cheerleading and gymnastics classes, gymnastics and cheerleading teams, dance program, summer camps, birthday parties, sleepovers, recitals, year-end shows, gymnastics apparel, and special incentive programs.  She also keeps our web site updated.

Jennifer Evans - 
A graduate of Wilson College, Jennifer completed the athletic coaching certificate program with a concentration in gymnastics and field hockey. Before coming to Wilson, Jennifer competed as a USAG Class III gymnast at Owego Scamps in Owego, New York, where she also taught and coached. Jennifer competed on the Wilson College team and has taught at the Wilson School of Gymnastics since 1985. She is a Professional Member of USAG, is a USAG level 1 through 4 skills evaluator, and a level 1 USAG coaching administrator and is USAG Safety Certified. In addition to teaching for the Chambersburg Area School District, Jennifer has completed her masters degree in education at Shippensburg University.  Jennifer works primarily with our compulsory (levels 4/5/6) teams. 

Rachel Chapman - Team Program Coordinator and Cheerleading Program Co-coordinator
Rachel comes to us from Portland, Maine where she competed as a USAG gymnast for six years and also as a high school gymnast. She was a member of the Portland High School cheerleading squad and attended competitions and cheerleading camps as part of her training. Rachel is a 2005 graduate of Wilson College. Prior to joining the staff at Wilson, she coached at the Portland YMCA and in the Portland School System. Rachel is the Team Program Coordinator and along with Coach Lindsay is co-coordinator of our cheerleading program.  She is a primary All-Star Cheerleading Coach and a primary Optional Level Gymnastics Coach. Rachel is USAG Safety Certified and a USAG Professional Member.

Jennifer Monn - Dance Program Co-coordinator
Jennifer is a long time Shippensburg Area resident. She began her teaching career at WSGD before stopping to raise her family and help run a family business with her husband. She studied dance at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, PA as well as under Paula Kellinger and Margie Schaeffer at Wilson College where she was a member Orchesis, the college dance company. She also performed with the Chambersburg community Theatre and attended workshops featuring Shirley Black Brow of New York, Leni Wylliams of Boston, and Judith Jamison. She still enjoys dancing herself and attends master dance classes on a regular basis. 

 

Darla Tharp Dance - Co-Coordinator
Darla is a native of Greencastle and began dancing when she was 5 years old and has studied Jazz, tap and ballet, including pointe, and acro. She added modern dance and hip hop and advanced her tap technique studying under Ms. West Virginia ’81, Candy Cohen.  Darla received a music degree from Shenandoah University where she performed with their dance team the “Sensations” as well as the choir and other performance venues. She taught music in the Clarke County VA school district where she also coached cheerleading was the Guard instructor for the band and did freelance choreography in schools in the D.C. Area. Darla has also taken dancers to Dance Caravan to compete in Myrtle Beach. Upon moving back to Chambersburg, Darla taught music at James Buchanan High School winning awards for her choir and show choir and continued to choreograph for the show choir and school musicals. Darla’s experience is not only an asset to our current program but give us the opportunity to offer new and exciting classes to our program.

Amber Rhyne
Amber comes to us from Corning, New York and is a 2004 graduate of Wilson College with a major in elementary education and certificate in athletic coaching/gymnastics and has earned her Masters Degree from Wilson as well. She was a competitive gymnast for 14 years participating in USAG, high school and collegiate gymnastics. Balance Beam and Floor were her strongest events. Amber's many years of coaching experience includes coaching at Elmira Gymnastics Club, the Corning YMCA, and Woodward Camp. She is also employed as a teacher by the Washington County School District where she teaches dance. Amber along with Rachel, coordinates our Optional Gymnastics Team. She also does the majority of our choreography for our optional team as well as for routines that we perform at local events. Amber is USAG safety certified and a USAG Professional
 

Alicia Hambright
Alicia is a 2006 graduate of Chambersburg Area High School where she competed on the Trojan Gymnastics team. She competed for WSGD for 8 years finishing her USAG career as a level 7 gymnast. Alicia is a  2010 graduate of  Shippensburg University with a major in Elementary Education. Alicia teaches Kindergarten for the CASD. She works with our gymnastics classes and our level 4, 5 and 6 compulsory gymnastics team. She is USAG Safety Certified and a USAG Professional Member.

 Kenny Jones

Jenn Leedy
Jenn is a 2004 graduate of Chambersburg Area High School where she competed on the Trojan Gymnastics team.  She was a member of our Wilson Renegade Gymnastics team for six years and competed through level 7. Jenn is a 2008 graduate of Millersville University where she was a member of their cheerleading squad and also competed at Cheer Excel. She is currently working on her Masters Degree in Elementary School Counseling from Shippensburg University. Jenn will work with our cheerleading and gymnastics programs.

Heidi Eiwen
A 1999 graduate of Wilson College, Heidi comes to us from White Plains, New York where she trained as a competitive gymnast for 11 years. During that time, Heidi also trained in Bucharest, Romania, Brown's Academy in Florida, Karolyi's Academy in Texas, and Woodward Camp. Heidi was a four-year member of the Wilson College gymnastics team and Orchesis, Wilson's modern dance troupe. As an accomplished dancer herself, Heidi studied dance with Nina Balistrere, Paula Kellinger and at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City.  While at Wilson, she majored in math and secondary education with a minor in athletic coaching. Heidi presently teaches mathematics at the Francis Scott Key High School in Carroll County, MD and is still the head coach of the Chambersburg High school Trojan Gymnastics Team. She continuing to assist with our gymnastics and cheerleading teams and our dance, gymnastics and cheerleading classes. Heidi is a USAG professional member, a level 1 through 4 skills evaluator and is USAG Safety Certified. 

 
Jenelle Wenerd
Jenelle is a 2008 graduate of Chambersburg Area High School where she competed on the Trojan Gymnastics team. She also competed for Wilson for 12 years finishing her USAG career as a level 8 gymnast. Jenelle was a member of Wilson's Silver Division team who took first place team at the USAIGC Nationals in Florida in 2004. She will be attending Penn State Altoona in the fall of 2008. Jenelle works with our level 4 compulsory team and our gymnastics class. 

Lori Moore
Lori is a sophomore at Chambersburg Area High School where she competes on the Trojan Gymnastics team. Last season she was one of only two freshmen who qualified and competed for the team at the PA Classic Team Championships.  Lori started at WSGD at the age of three and is now a level 9 gymnast. Her favorite event is uneven bars and her goal this season is to qualify to USAG Eastern Nationals. Between training sixteen to eighteen hours per week, schoolwork and activities Lori still manages to find the time to enjoy kayaking and ultimate Frisbee! She was a hit with the children who came to camps this summer and will be working primarily with our gymnastics class program.

Julie Heintzelman
Julie is a 1989 graduate of the Chambersburg Area High School and as a gymnast herself, competed on the Wilson, Chambersburg High School, and Chambersburg YMCA teams.  She coached and taught gymnastics at the Chambersburg YMCA, Wilson, and Gymnastics of York for seven years, before taking time off to raise her three sons. Julie has attended workshops and trained with Kelly Hill, Steve Neuno, and professionals from all over the US.  In addition, Julie has attended many motivational workshops giving her the tools to motivate and inspire the gymnasts to reach their goals. She was a certified student athletic trainer when in high school and was both a high school and USAG certified gymnastics judge.  Julie is a USAG professional member, a USAG level 1-4 skills evaluator, is USAG Safety Certified, and a USAG Meet Director. She assists with Wilson's level 7 through 10 teams.   

Jennifer Bierly
Jen comes to us from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania and is a 2001 graduate of Waynesboro Area High School.  She competed gymnastics for Waynesboro High School where she holds the highest all-around record of 37.05. Jen was a high school state champion on Balance Beam. She also competed for Wilson for 10 years finishing her USAG career as a level 10 gymnast.  One high point of Jennifer’s gymnastics career was qualifying and competing in Level 9 Nationals in 2000. Jen is USAG Safety Certified and a professional member of the USAG. She works primarily with our optional (levels 7/8/9) gymnastics team.  

Kate Tusten
Kate is a 2002 graduate from Shippensburg University with a major in business and in 2006 she earned her teaching degree in Elementary Education. She currently teaches Kindergarten for the Washington County Public Schools. Kate ,an accomplished gymnast herself, competed as both a USAG and high school gymnast, with balance beam being her strongest event. Kate has been coaching and teaching gymnastics at Wilson since 1997 and is an excellent coach and instructor. She is a level 1 through 4 skills evaluator, USAG Safety Certified, USAG Meet Director and coaching certified (KAT/MELPD) Kate helps out with our gymnastics team and classes as her job teaching Kindergarten in the Washington County School district allows.

Kirsten Browder
Kirsten is a 2001 graduate of the Chambersburg Area High School where she competed for the high school Trojan team as an all around gymnast for four years.  She distinguished herself in the high school diamond competition, holding numerous Trojan records on floor exercise and vault.  Kirsten  competed for Wilson for 12 years finishing as a very accomplished level 10 USAG gymnast. In her senior year, Kirsten placed first on floor at USAIGC nationals. While attending the University of Pittsburgh she was a member of their gymnastics team. Kirsten is furthering her education at Shippensburg University and will be assisting with the Chambersburg High School gymnastics team. Kirsten fills in with our teams as her busy schedule allows.  She is a  level 1-4 skills evaluator.

Nicki Geisel
Nicki is a 1998 Graduate of Shippensburg University where she received her BS in Sociology Anthropology. She has her masters in education and Nicki teaches first grade at Falling Spring Elementary School . She is also the assistant coach of the Chambersburg Trojan gymnastics team. Nicki was a gymnast for 14 years, having competed for the Chambersburg YMCA for nine years, and for the Chambersburg Senior High School for four years, where she qualified for PIAA States three consecutive years from 1991 through 1993. Nicki helps fill in for our classes and birthday parties. 

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