STAFF

Meet the staff!

	Frank Minter, President Frank@salemgym.com In 1980 Frank saw a need for high level gymnastics in Winston-Salem and as such was instrumental in starting Salem Gymnastics Sports Center. Frank earned an engineering degree from NC State and a MBA UNC Chapel Hill. For most of his working career he was a representative for IBM located in Winston Salem. Frank is the business manager for Salem Gymnastics Sports Center. He is well traveled, enjoys scuba diving, working out and driving his Mini Cooper, and loves to see children enjoy exercising and going home sweating!
	Beth Morphis, Co-Owner Beth@salemgym.com Beth has been flipping all her life, dancing, acting, and eventually making the first gymnastics team in Winston-Salem. Her love of the sport inspired her parents to open Salem Gymnastics Center in 1980 where she continued to teach and compete gymnastics, accepting a full gymnastics scholarship to Illinois State University. Fate dealt an interesting blow during the fall of her freshman year, when an uneven bar fall led to a torn ACL and reconstructive knee surgery. She spent the next four months in a full leg cast, six months on crutches and two years in rehab. She learned many things during this time, including both patience and a giant swing on bars, which she was the first ISU gymnast to compete. After college Beth came home and, along with her parents and husband, began running the family business. Beth has been a long time NC-USAG Board Member and a speaker at both USAG State and Regional Congresses, as well as an integral part of USAIGC Nationals from 1989-2001. Additionally, she is a founding member of Motion Evolution, serves as lay leader at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, and loves to travel and listen to Jackson Browne. Beth is married to Kenny Morphis and has two awesome children, Jon and Page. She loves working at Salem with her husband and father, and feels very fortunate to have a job she looks forward to going to every day. Her hope is that the lives she touches will take the lessons learned and continue on to greatness wherever they go.
	Kenny Morphis, Co-Owner Kenny@salemgym.com Kenny has been active in sports all his life. A native of North Carolina, Kenny’s family moved to West Berlin, Germany in 1963 where he grew up. Kenny attended the Berlin Military School system, graduating in 1977 from Berlin American High School where he was a member of the soccer and football teams. Upon returning to the US, he attended Gardner Webb College where he was a Physical Education major with a Psychology minor. Kenny was a member of his college tennis team as well as an avid intramural participant. Kenny began working at Salem in 1984 and was Head Coach of the girl’s competitive teams from 1985 until 2009. He has worked in every aspect of the gym and now teaches recreational classes and is the resident maintenance man. Kenny is married to Beth and they have two children, Jon, a soccer player and Page, a handful. Kenny and Beth are Co-owners of Salem, along with Beth’s father, Frank Minter.
	Beth-Anne Brown, Front Office Manager BAB@salemgym.com Beth-Anne started at Salem in 2002 as a manager and teacher for Karate International. She received her 1^st Degree Black belt in 1999 and is currently a 3^rd degree Black Belt. She began working in the Salem office in 2006. Working for Salem was a natural transition considering she has had a child involved in every aspect of the Gym at one time or another. Her son Dalton got his black belt from Karate International and was on Cheer Extreme’s first Co-ed team at Salem. Her daughter Devin was on the Salem Dance Team and currently dances for Regan High School. Her daughter Dani was on Salem’s gymnastics team and now is a Reagan Varsity Cheerleader. Beth-Anne has been married to David Brown for almost 25 years, and currently lives in Pfafftown.
	Carole Nix, Front Office, Tumbleweeds, Fit-nastics Carole@salemgym.com Carole came to Salem back in the 1990’s as a parent of one of our competitive gymnasts. Within a few years, she began teaching Parent Tots and Tumbleweeds. In 1999 Carole was diagnosed with breast cancer and took a sabbatical to fight for her life. She returned a year later running our Tumblebus program. She is our founder and program director of Fit-Nastics an after-school program at several elementary schools in Forsyth County. Carole is our department leader for our Tumbleweed preschool program. With her love of children and children’s music, Carole loves to research and find new music and loves writing lesson plans. The one she is most proud of is our pirate week. “Each year we come up with new ideas to add to this theme”. “I know we have the best teachers anywhere, because they have more fun teaching this than I think the children…. How cool is that?” Carole recently has taken retirement from teaching. “I can still do a mean forward roll, it’s just the body hurts afterwards!” You can find her several evenings behind the desk in our main office. She is the mother of three children: Jamie, Johanna, EJ. Jamie competed for Salem Gymnastics from the age of 6 through her junior year in high school. Carole has been married to her husband Bruce for 26 years. If you like or dislike what your child is doing, give Carole a shout out!
	Crystal Fredrick, Birthday Party Director Crystal@salemgym.com Crystal has been involved with teaching children for most of her life, first by teaching pre-k and by earning her Early Childhood Education Certification. “Watching children learn and grow just makes me happy, I feel like I am making a difference within their families.” She has two children that are both involved in gymnastics as well as karate at Salem. You will find Crystal in the office at Salem, teaching classes, and working at Birthday Parties. “It keeps me busy and involved in the gym and the community. I feel like family here. We just all love working together and being a team. There is no other place I would rather be than home or at Salem, my second home!”
	Jason Braun, Parent/tots through Girl’s Team Jason@salemgym.com Jason was born in Jacksonville Florida where he started gymnastics at the age of 8. He competed in artistic gymnastics until he was 15, then competed in power tumbling and trampoline. In 1987 Jason placed 3rd at World Age Group Games in power tumbling. He has been coaching gymnastics on and off for 27 years, and had a brief career as a circus performer. Jason coaches everything from preschoolers through Level 10 gymnastics, and has coached numerous state, regional, and national champions and has been instrumental in assisting over 10 gymnasts to obtain college scholarships.
	Jeff DeVito, Level 1-5 & AAU Team Jeff@salemgym.com Jeff is from upstate New York and moved to North Carolina for college and golf. If someone had told Jeff when he was growing up that he would end up being a gymnastics coach, he would have told them that they were crazy. In 1991 Jeff took a summer job at Salem “flipping kids” and has never looked back. “I’m very happy that I took that job because I love coaching and I look forward to going to work everyday.” Jeff does a little of everything at the gym, serving as Department Leader for the Level program, Tumbleweed teacher, and anything else that is needed. He is also in charge of staff training – “its fun to pass on what I have learned to new staff members.” Over the years Jeff has been a Clinician at various State clinics and always draws a crowd. Jeff is married to Ms Charlene who also works at Salem and has 2 children, Coby and Gracie.
	Charlene DeVito, Dance Teams & Special Events Charlene@salemgym.com Originally from upstate New York, Charlene was a competitive gymnast under the direction of former Russian National Gold Medalist Yury Tsykun, and studied dance at numerous dance studios in the upstate New York area for most of her childhood. After college she was the gymnastics and dance director for the Albany YMCA for ten years before moving to North Carolina and her current home at Salem Gymnastics in 1995. Both in New York and at Salem she has coached numerous State, Regional and National Gymnasts and Dancers. She currently teaches parent-tot through team gymnasts, as well as the Dance Team. She is the Director of Camps & Special Events as well as Co-Director of the Dance Program. Charlene lives in Clemmons with her husband Jeff and two children, Coby and Gracie.
	Kari Anderson, Recreational Dance Kari@salemgym.com Kari started dancing at age three at the Larkin School in Maplewood, Minnesota, where she studied until she finished high school. She had additional training at the Minnesota Dance Theatre, The Harkness Ballet, The Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Gus Giordano. Kari had her first professional job as a dancer at age 17. Her early teachers emphasized being a well rounded performer, which allowed Kari to have a wide range of experience as a performer and choreographer. Highlights of her performing career include dancing as a soloist at The Kennedy Center, and working with Gladys Knight, Jay Leno, Tina Turner, Elizabeth Perkins, and Tommy Hilfiger, and David Alan Grier among others. Some of her favorite projects were a production of “Chicago” for Center Stage in Minneapolis (Top 10 Best Show of the Year), choreography for “America’s Most Talented Kids”, and the Golden Nugget Hotel in Atlantic City. Her film career includes “Weekend at Bernie’s”, “From the Hip”, and “Alien Outlaw” where she had the lead. Kari did her undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota, and received her Master’s degree from UNCG. Kari has been a head judge for Showstopper Dance Championships for the past ten years, and has been quoted in “Dance Spirit” and “Dance” magazines.
	Curtis Rucker, USAG Girls Team/Tumbling DL Curtis@salemgym.com Curtis has had the privilege of growing in a military family. Part of that time he spent growing up in Japan. “I learned a lot about different cultures and wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.” Curtis has always had a passion for working with children and spent three and a half years as a teacher at The Children’s Center for The Physically Disabled. Surprisingly enough that is how he came to work in gymnastics. He was the teacher for Mr. Jeff and Ms. Charlene’s daughter, Gracie, and his obvious love for helping children led to a job offer at Salem. “If you had told me a long time ago that I would be a gymnastics coach I would have laughed.” In the years that Curtis has been at Salem he has worked very hard to become a major part of the Salem family. With the help and support of our staff and many training clinics, Curtis is now out Department Leader for all tumbling classes. In addition, he also coaches our competitive team, pre-school and recreational classes, and helps out in dance classes.
	Travis Fizgerald, Fitkids/Motion Evoultion Travis@salemgym.com Travis is the Dept. Leader for Fitkids/Motion Evolution, and the Strength and Conditioning Specialist at Salem. In high school Travis competed in baseball, football, wrestling and track winning the 2000 Iowa State Baseball Championship. He also competed in collegiate baseball at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa. Travis received his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from the University of Northern Iowa, where he helped redesign and teach the University Personal Training Instruction course leading lectures and labs in anatomy, exercise physiology, biomechanics, fitness assessment exercise programing and nutrition. Travis also served as a strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer and group fitness instructor at the University of Northern Iowa Human Performance Center. Travis moved to Winston-Salem in the fall of 2006 where he was hired on as the Personal Fitness Coordinator Gold’s Gym. In the fall of 2007 Travis accepted a position as a Physical Therapy Technician at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and has written curriculum for the nationwide program, Motion Evolution. Travis’ favorite cartoon is He-man, his favorite color is green, and his favorite place is The Field of Dreams in his hometown of Dyersville Iowa.
	Monica Lucas Monica@salemgym.com Monica has been involved with gymnastics since the day she was born. She grew up at Salem Gymnastics, taking classes, then competing on team for 11 years. While competing at Salem, she was a two time USAIGC National Champion, and a two time Junior Olympic National qualifier. She also represented the USA, competing internationally in Chile for the 2003 Pan Am Maccabiah Games and in Israel for the 2005 Maccabiah Games. Monica earned a full, athletic/academic scholarship to Eastern Michigan University where she competed on the gymnastics team all four years. Monica graduated cum laude, earning an Exercise Science degree. Her father, Tim Lucas, was a long time coach for Salem, and an inspiration for coaching. Both of her parents competed as scholarship gymnasts in college and taught her the love of the sport which she hope to pass on to her students.
	Brittany Reynolds Brittany@salemgym.com Brittany is currently a student at Forsyth Technical Community College focusing on studies in Nursing. She received her Certified Nursing Assistant Certificate from Davidson Community College and is CPR and First Aid certified. Brittany has been teaching gymnastics since 2003 and has been with Salem Gymnastics since 2008. She currently teaches all ages from babies through high school, and serves as Salem’s Birthday Party Coordinator. Brittany was a long time cheerleader from elementary through High School. She is married to Weston and has three daughters, Emily, Haylee, and Charlotte.
	Terri Rooks, Dance Terri@salemgym.com Terri “grew up” at the Virginia Ballet School and Company in Springfield, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. She received her BFA in Dance Performance from UNCG where she was a soloist with the UNC-G Dance Company all four years, and performed classical and original works. During her senior year, she was named ballet mistress and staged Swan Lake’s Pas de Trois for the Dance Company’s Spring season. Terri’s original work, “Vortex,” was created for and performed by the UNC-G Dance Company; she was then the only undergraduate asked to create choreography for the UNC-G Dance Company. She has performed as a member of the corps de ballet and as a soloist in many ballets, including The Nutcracker Suite, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle, Russian favorite, Gayne, and many original ballet and modern dance pieces. For the last 18 years, Terri has traveled to more than 30 states as a professional judge, announcer, and events coordinator for Showstopper American Dance Championships. She currently is an editor for Pace Communications, publisher of award-winning publications Sky, (Delta Airlines monthly inflight magazine), Spirit, (Southwest Airlines’ magazine), US Airways magazine, AAA Traveler, and various regional books, including children’s books. Her articles about dance, the arts, and culture have been published internationally.
	Tina Morgan, Karate International Tina@salemgym.com Tina started with Karate International in September 2005. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she graduated from University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Her engineering career brought her to North Carolina in 1989. Here she met her husband Doug, whom she has been married to for 15 years. They have two lively children, Taylor and Luke. Tina is a 3^rd Degree Black Belt and instructor with Karate International and is now the owner of KI Salem.
	Rob Joiner, Karate International Rob@salemgym.com Rob is a 3rd degree black belt and has been chief instructor of Karate International at Salem Gymnastics since 2008. He has a degree in commercial art and advertising design, and is currently employed doing computer graphics. In his spare time he enjoys biking, cooking and music. In addition to Sanshinkai, Rob has trained in Tae Kwon Do and Brazilian Jujitsu, and is currently training in Krav Maga.
	Mark Ayers, Karate International Mark@salemgym.com Mark has spent his professional life in fashion and style-related businesses. He currently owns Cheveux, the premier hair salon in Winston-Salem. He creates the hairstyles seen daily on WXII TV12, and has his own line of hair care products – “IT’S ME” – with sales worldwide. Mark’s print work has appeared in Modern Bride, Carolina Bride, American Salon, Modern Salon, and others. Since his start in Karate 2007 Mark has earned 3 different black belts in Sanshinkai, Krav-Maga & RLSD. He has had the awesome privilege to teach self-defense techniques to people in all parts of the world including Asia, Europe, South America, North America, Central America and the Middle East. When he’s not on the road or at work, Mark enjoys time with his family – his wife (a former model), two girls, and granddaughter. He also makes time for his spiritual work, shooting and producing videos for churches and missionaries around the world. Mark also enjoys the great outdoors – especially mountain biking, surfing and snowboarding.
	Sofia Lyons Sofia has been a part of Salem since the age of four. She did gymnastics for 10 years, starting in Tumbleweeds and continuing on through Funtastics, Mini-mights, and finally the USAG competitive team. Sofia is currently a member of Salem’s Dance Team and absolutely loves it. She comments “I feel like this job has made me much more responsible and because of it I’ve discovered a true passion for teaching and caring for children.” Sofia is a student at Reynolds High School and plans to continue working and dancing at Salem until she goes to college.
	Nicki Roman Bio coming soon!
	Megan Rahhal Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Megan is a junior at Wake Forest University. She grew up in gymnastics, participating in the sport for 14 years. Megan competed for 7 years, culminating at Level 9. She has a great passion for teaching children.
	Melissa Kepke Melissa is from Cary, NC where she competed for the Raleigh School of Gymnastics. She has been involved in the sport since the age of 2 and she finished her career as a gymnast as a Level 9. When she arrived at Wake Forest University she discovered that she missed children and gymnastics and applied for a position at Salem! Melissa has been at Salem for 3 years and has greatly enjoyed teaching a sport that she loves.
	Dani Brown Dani has been involved at Salem most of her life. She started at age 3 in the Little Dragon program at Karate International. After achieving the rank of Green Belt at age 7, she switched to gymnastics where she moved up the ranks, joining the USAG team and competing through Level 5. Currently she attends Reagan High School where she is a Varsity Cheerleader. She began volunteer coaching at Salem when she was 14 and now works in our school age program.
	Elizabeth Steadman Bio coming soon!
	Laurie Steadman Bio coming soon!
	Sammy Lucas Sammy is originally from Winston-Salem where he basically grew up at Salem Gymnastics. His father Tim Lucas, was a long time coach, and his sister, Monica, was a competitive gymnast at Salem and now coaches here. Sammy never competed as a gymnast, but played baseball, basketball, football and soccer with great success. He played in both the Pop Warner Super Bowl with the Lewisville Titans and the Little League World Series with Southwest Forsyth Little League. Additionally, he competed in the Pan Am Maccabiah Games in basketball. While studying as a Health Fitness Specialist at East Carolina University, he coached the Tumbling and Trampoline team at Rose’s Gymnastics in Greenville, NC and worked with their recreational classes. Sammy is currently doing a split internship at Wake Forest University in Strength and Conditioning along with Baptist Hospital in Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab. Sammy is certified with USA Weightlifting as a Strength and Performance Coach, along with having CPR and First Aid. Sammy is a hall of fame “gym rat” from Salem Gymnastics and looks to pass on the enthusiasm and fun to his students.
	Tana Wooten Tana works as an Office Assistant at Salem. Her three children have all been Salem kids, participating in Tumbleweeds, Boy’s gymnastics, beginner girls, Level 1-4 girls, Fit-nastics, Karate and tumbling. Her oldest daughter is now a cheerleader at Mount Tabor, and her youngest daughter is a Level 2. Tana met her husband, Tim, while he was in the Navy. They have been married over two decades! Says Tana “I have felt very welcomed and am very grateful to be here. Salem has been very good to us over the years. It offers a great way to build confidence in my children and help them achieve all their goals.”
	Andrea Roa Bio coming soon!
	Sidney Fredrick Bio coming soon!
	Dusty McNeer Bio coming soon!