Meet Amanda Stellick

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Stellick. Amanda was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Morgan Kuchynka.

Amanda, can you walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in a loving Christian home with parents who encouraged me to excel and gave me the best opportunities they could. As the oldest of five children, I learned to help and care for others. I went to a Christian grade school where I developed a passion for reading, learning, and sharing my faith in Jesus. In elementary school, I also fell in love with soccer. I played on a competitive team, but was devastated when I didn’t make the JV team my freshman year in high school. I continued playing on my competitive team and worked hard to improve. I did make JV the following year, but learned I needed to work harder than my peers to reach the goals I had set for myself. Throughout my teen years, I also did a lot of babysitting and developed a love for working with children. I knew I wanted to become a teacher! I went to Martin Luther College, a small D3 college in Minnesota, where I not only received a degree in elementary education, but was able to play soccer all four years as well! Upon graduation, I had a unique opportunity to teach elementary school and English classes in Tsuchiura, Japan. I lived there for a year and had some amazing experiences. Looking back, I think the experience of living in a place where you don’t know the language helped me become a better teacher, especially as I taught children to read and write. I taught high school for a year, but settled in Kansas teaching Kindergarten and First Grade at Mt. Olive Lutheran School in Overland Park. I LOVED teaching K-1! I loved watching the light turn on when a student finally got reading! I loved teaching my students about their Savior Jesus and how much he loves and care for them! I taught at Mt. Olive for seven years. I married my amazing husband, Caleb, and had my first child. For me, that changed everything. Teaching while my child was in daycare (even an amazing one) was by far the hardest year I ever had. I couldn’t be the teacher I was AND the mom I wanted to be. By Christmas I knew I wanted to be at home with my baby. Thankfully my husband was so understanding and we worked it out for me to stay at home. So I let me school know I would be done at the end of the school year and that was that. I am grateful I did teach that first year I had my son because I have no regrets quitting a job I had loved so much. Fast forward nine years, I now have four wonderful children, three who attend at Mt. Olive where I taught and one who is still at home with me. I love being able to be mom and support them in all their activities! I have been the secretary for Mt. Olive Lutheran School for four years (mostly working from home during nap time) and for the past year and a half, have voluntarily run Mt. Olive’s Mornings with Mommy program, a once a month themed educational playdate for children ages 0-5. So here I am now, a crazy busy mom of a 2, 5, 8, and 10 year old, encouraging my children to excel and giving them the best opportunities I can. I am so happy and thankful for the blessed life I have!

Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
When I was a teacher, I had high but reasonable expectations for my students. I like my routines and am very disciplined and methodical. I wanted my students to develop a love of learning, reading, and their Savior Jesus. As a stay-at-home mom, these same standards are applied to my children. I want them to learn responsibility and that school is important. I want them to have a variety of experiences and opportunities, be active, and have time for playing. Being at home, I love that we can go weekly to story time at the library. We can go to playdates, parks, museums, and gymnastics. I am there after school to be mom, listen to them read and help with school work or piano practice. As the Mt. Olive school secretary, I am involved and helping my children’s school. I need lots of communication (a bit of a helicopter parent here) and can provide that for other parents at our school as well. Being a former teacher, I know “how things go” and hopefully make less work for our teachers. I love that I can do this work when my children are sleeping. Running our school’s Mornings with Mommy program has given me my “teaching fix,” plus my son who is at home gets to enjoy playing and meeting so many new friends. I have found that I enjoy teaching little ones as much as I did Kindergarten.

Pinnacle Gymnastics has been a great friend to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Pinnacle Gymnastics and your experience with them.
When my daughter (child #2) was about two, I started to look for an activity for her. She was (and still is) very high energy, so I thought gymnastics would be a good fit for her. A friend recommended Pinnacle Gymnastics, but what really made me try it was they had a Mini Jitterbug class for 2-year-olds WITHOUT the parent. Since I was due with baby #3 in a few months, this was ideal! We did about a month in their Parent-and-Tot class to get her used to gymnastics and then tried the Mini Jitterbug class by herself. She did great and we have been at Pinnacle ever since. I have done the Parent-and-Tot class with both child #3 and #4, almost all their preschool classes at some point and with multiple children, child #3 loves his Little Ninja class, and my daughter has progressed through their pre-competitive and is now in her first year on the competitive team. She loves gymnastics and I love seeing her smiles while she practices! Now that my daughter is on the competitive team, I appreciate that at Pinnacle they recognize the balance between school, family and gymnastics. She only has two practices a week. Because they are longer, I am no longer able to stay and watch all the time, but I know she is in good hands while I am not there. My daughter has really enjoyed being on the team. She loves learning the more difficult skills and being at practice, but also the fun events they have that create camaraderie among all the athletes at Pinnacle like their Halloween party. I also love that the older gymnasts help with the younger ones and the atmosphere is so positive!

There are lots of other great things I can say about Pinnacle… They have a nice clean facility and really great programs. In their preschool classes, I like that they have different themes, activities that are developmentally appropriate and keep my child engaged, and keep the kids moving the whole class. (The teacher in me loves this!) The ninjas program has some cool equipment. My son enjoys running up the wall, climbing through the different hanging contraptions, and the climbing wall! It’s so fun!

Now all of these things are wonderful, but what keeps our family at Pinnacle is the people. I have only met Morgan a few times, but the way she runs Pinnacle and the people she employs and has kept there tell me a lot about her. Pinnacle has a really amazing staff! I have known Coach Hannah and Coach Carly for almost six years from when my daughter first started gymnastics. They are still there coaching my daughter and my other children. Coach Lisa, Coach Kyle, Coach Courtney, Coach Maddison, Laura at the front desk, and many more… They are all so kind, caring, helpful, and show their love for working with children. They are wonderful role models for my children. They are fun, silly, and encouraging to the class, but also maintain high standards and good control of the class. They are why we are still at Pinnacle and we will not be leaving Pinnacle Gymnastics anytime soon!