Born: Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Favorite Sport: Gymnastics
Family: My husband and best friend, George & 3 children:
Yasmine, former Senior Cheer Cat member, field hockey and soccer player, and a freshman at the University of Iowa
Dominique, competitive swimmer for LFSC
George, competitive swimmer, wrestler, and football player
Gymnastics Background:
Started gymnastics
at the age of 8
Invited to compete for the Dutch National Team at age 10
Represented the Dutch Team at the 1979 World Championships in
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX and the World Championships in Moscow, Russia
in 1981. In 1982 at the age of 17, was recruited on a full ride
scholarship to compete for Indiana State University. At Indiana
State University, was named Athlete of the Year in 1984.
Teaching
Background:
Graduated K-12
PE Teaching with a minor in Coaching.
Started teaching at the age of 17 for the Indiana State University
gymnastics children's program.
Taught at the Indiana State University Gymnatics summer camps.
Taught for the Terre Haute Gymnastics Center.
Taught at Kim Kalla's Dance Studio.
Taught at The Gymnastics Spot in Mundelein.
Started teaching for American Stars which was sold and split up
in 1998 into The Gymnastics Zone and American Stars of
Dance.
Coached the Girls' Gymnastics Team at Antioch High School from
1998 - 2005.
Jenna
Blasko, Level
1, Level 2 & Tumbling Instructor jenna@thegymnasticszone.com
Personal Info: Born
in Lake Forest, IL. Lived in Lindenhurst til 3, then moved to
Antioch where she still resides. Loves her whole family! (especially
her mom, dad, sister and cat)! Enjoys all types of arts and crafts
- particularly graphic arts and coloring! Besides dancing and
tumbling (of course).
Dance
Experience: Started dancing at age 4. Began competing
in group dances and as a soloist at age 6. At age 8, she was dancing
with kids almost twice hr age. By age 12, she was traveling as
far as Chicago to take dance classes. Took various workshops whenever
possible (ranging from Ballet to The Rockettes). As she
continued dancing, she boradened her abilities to jazz, tap, ballet,
hip-hop, modern, lyrical and other styles of dance. In high school,
she was involved with musicals for Children's Theater of Deerfield
and Actor's Theater of Glencoe. While attending
Arizona State University, she received dance scholarships, performed
in more than 25 shows, and danced for professional artists. She
was an intern for the Institute for Studies in the Arts for two
years where she worked with professionals on various dance/technology
projects. Jenna scheduled and participated in the Americal College
Dance Festival (ACDF) where more than 500 students took dance
workshops for an entire week. She graduated from ASU in 2002 with
a FA in Dance Studies.
Tumbling/Gymnastics
Experience: At
age 3, Jenna would go to the gym with her dad (Paul Blasko) and
workout with the boys. She started tumbling at age 6 with Debby
Bessette and began competing in group routines and as a soloist
at age 7. Jenna was on the Varsity Gymnastics Team at Antioch
High School for 4 years, captain the last 2 years.
Teaching
Experience: Started
teaching dance at American Stars at age 15. Taught dance and tumbling
for the Village of Fox Lake during the summer of 2000. While attending
ASU, Jenna taught (level 1) jazz 100 and tap 100, dance movement
classes to elementary students, Modern to high school teachers
and graduate students for the Dance and Technology Workshop.
Sheila
Bray, Office & Delinquent Account Manager
Cassie
Coor, Cheer
Cats Director and Cheer Coach, Youth Team
Personal
Info: Cassie
graduated from
Northern Illinois University with a B.S. M Biology. She
married Chris in 1998 and they have 2 beautiful daughters Faith
(Cheer Cat Youth & Mini) & Lauren (Cheer Cat Mini).
Tumbling/Gymnastics
Experience: Cassie
has 15+ years of competitive Cheerleading Experience:
St. Albert the Great Cheerleader (Burbank, IL)
Reavis H.S. Cheerleader (Burbank, IL)
ICF All-American Cheerleader 1992
Moraine Valley Cheerleader (Palos Hills, IL)
Teaching
Experience:
USASF Credentials Levels 1-3
St. Albert the Great Varsity Coach (Burbank, IL)
Gymnastics Zone Cheer Cats Mini Coach, Antioch, IL (2005/2006
& 2006/2007)
Gymnastics
Zone Cheer Cats Youth Coach, Antioch, IL (2006/2007 - present)
