It happens so often these days that she doesn’t even give it a thought anymore.
Lisa Morrow will be shopping at a local retail store, and she hears a little voice shout her name. When she sees where the voice is coming from, trailing behind it is a parent with eyebrows cocked wondering why their son or daughter is shouting at this woman.
Morrow gives the parent a pause of relief when she tells them who she is.
“Often, I don’t have to tell them; the children do that for me now,” she said.
Morrow is co-owner and instructor of The Flip Factory, a traveling gym for aspiring gymnasts ages 2 through 5.
The Flip Factory is actually a renovated 30-foot trailer that once hauled a car. Morrow outfitted the mobile gymnasium with mats, a vaulting station, a balance beam and other equipment to help teach her students about gymnastics. She just hooks up the trailer behind her truck four days a week to travel to local daycare centers around the tri-county area.
“It is a job I can do and enjoy making a living doing it,” she said.
The Flip Factory began in 1999, which was not long after Lisa had her first child.
She had been working at another gymnastics facility in Montgomery and also was teaching in Montgomery schools. After having a baby, she decided to get out of the Montgomery school system, but she still wanted to stay involved with gymnastics.
“The Flip Factory originally started when I drove around with tumbling mats in the back of my Suburban,” she said. “I got tired of pulling out those mats and putting them back in the Suburban all by myself, so I invested in the truck and trailer.”
Morrow now visits some 15 daycare centers weekly and coaches about 165 children, with each week’s routine different from the previous lesson.
One week, the children may learn to walk the balance beam; the next, they might practice handstands.
Morrow also approaches similar gymnastics positions differently with each age group. For example, 2-year-olds will learn the basics of a handstand by learning the “donkey kick” in which the children put their hands and feet on the floor with their bodies arched; and then, kick out their feet like bucking donkeys. But a 5-year-old will learn a handstand using a different approach.
Besides the “donkey kick,” Morrow also teaches her young students the spider-man. The children learn to climb a wall area with their feet and bodies pressed between two walls to build upper body strength.
“It is an awesome program,” said Nancy Miller, director of the WeeCBC program at Coosada Baptist Church. “You can tell Lisa loves those children, and they love her.”
How does Nancy know?
She only needs to ask her own daughter, Victoria, who was a student of Morrow’s starting at age 4 and now continues working at Titans Gym in Wetumpka.
“It’s a great opportunity for the kids, because they get to have fun while developing their growth motor skills,” Miller added. “And a big plus for the parents and caregivers; they don’t have to go elsewhere for the children to learn gymnastics.”
The Titans Gym is “the big gym,” Morrow explained.
It actually is where Morrow’s husband, Benjamin, coaches competitive gymnastics while Brandon Godwin coaches competitive cheerleading.
“I tell all of them once they got into kindergarten, they can come to the big gym,” Morrow said. “I think (gymnastics is) good for all children. It’s good for their motor skills. They are flipping upside down and turn in different directions and learn balance, which helps with other sports.
“On the competitive side of it, I tell the children and the parents that anyone who wants to do it can if they really want to do it.”
That is where the teacher in Morrow comes to the forefront, and the parents see that after every practice session with her. Not only does Morrow provide positive reinforcement verbally, but she also offers a more physical reinforcement by way of stamps, according to Stephanie Park.
After Park’s 6-year-old daughter, Claire Elizabeth, comes home from gymnastics practice, Stephanie often asks her how many stamps she got.
“Lisa gives stamps to those who do real well during a session,” Park explained. “She will give two, which may be a Disney Planes stamp or a star or beachball, to those who did exceptional that day or one for those who did good, and some may not get any if they didn’t listen very well.”
Park said Morrow teaches more than just gymnastics.
“These kids, especially at 2 to 5 years old are just bundles of energy, and she teaches them to sit down and pay attention,” Park said.
While Morrow enjoys the teaching side, as well as the gymnastics side of her job, she said her greatest satisfaction comes when the “light bulb comes on.”
“Just to see their little faces when they pull a trick, and it works,” she said. “To see that excitement when they accomplish something they’ve been working on is the greatest reward. Two, it’s not just the gymnastics. It’s everyday life to see and hear the stories they tell from their perspective.”
Morrow and The Flip Factory travel through the tri-county area throughout the year except during significant school breaks – spring break, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
For more information about The Flip Factory or Titans Gym programs, log onto www.flipfactorykids.com.
