Each April USA Gymnastics hosts a Child Abuse Prevention month, in an effort to grow awareness within our Olympiad/Team Central community, Olympiad & Team Central hosts a Child Abuse Prevention month in September in accordance with USA Gymnastics' April efforts.
What are we doing to prevent child abuse in our community? Olympiad and Team Central have put several policies in place regarding our staff, instructors, and parents. We have developed a Child Welfare binder that we keep at every Olympiad/Team Central location. The binders contain handouts, educational materials, reference guides, and action steps to assist our staff, instructors, and team coaches regarding Standards of Conduct, Child Abuse and Neglect information, and Procedures for Reporting Complaints and Violations.
Some of the Standards of Behavior that Olympiad/TC have adopted include, but are not limited to:
1) Avoiding being alone with a child
2) Establish Boundaries for Necessary Physical Contact,
3) Set Travel/Transportation Guidelines and
4) Prohibit Electronic, Social, and Out of Program interactions.
Resources for our Parents
Below are some resources for parents regarding prevention, safety precautions, and knowing the signs and signals of abuse or "grooming".
You can find more articles, videos and resources like this on USA Gymnastics website at http://usagymclub.com/wecarearticles/
Child Lures Prevention/Teen Lures Prevention:
Our mission is to help ensure the personal safety of children and youth through increased awareness, education, advocacy and action.
Child Help USA
Assisting victims of child abuse through treatment programs (Child Help Advocacy Centers) and offering prevention programs such as Childsafe Speak Up Be Safe for Educators.
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Connecting child welfare and related professionals to comprehensive resources to help protect children and strengthen families.
Darkness to Light
Our programs raise awareness of the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse by educating adults about the steps they can take to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to the reality of child sexual abuse.
The Kempe Foundation for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect
Kempe is partnering with policy makers, human service agencies, child advocacy groups and nonprofits locally and around the nation and globe to prevent child abuse and neglect and to treat victims of abuse and neglect.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® opened in 1984 to serve as the nation’s clearinghouse on issues related to missing and sexually exploited children. Today NCMEC is authorized by Congress to perform 22 programs and services to assist law enforcement, families and the professionals who serve them.
Prevent Child Abuse America
Prevent Child Abuse America is the national champion of great childhoods for all children. Founded in 1972 in Chicago, Prevent Child Abuse America works to promote the healthy development of children and prevent child abuse before it can occur in order to help children to grow up and contribute in their communities.
SafeSport
We all have a role to play in creating a healthy setting for sport. SafeSport helps raise awareness about misconduct in sport, promote open dialogue, and provide training and resources. When we work as a team, we can build a game plan to make sport safe―for everyone.
Stop It Now!
Stop It Now! was founded by Fran Henry, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who learned first hand that standard approaches to keeping children safe from child sexual abuse at that time did not respond to the complex relationships surrounding most abuse.
Focus Fun Fitness & Friends
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Friday, August 12, 2016
We're Speaking Out...Help Us, Help You!
As the owner of Olympiad Gymnastics, I would like to thank you for your patronage and support of Olympiad Gymnastics. Each one of you is an important part of our mission for the children of St. Louis; “Building Happy, Healthy, Confident Children”. Gymnastics teaches so many lessons beyond the physical; determination, respect for oneself and others, friendship, and teamwork are just a few skills that children practice in the gym and take with them when they move on to other dreams and challenges.
Olympiad Gymnastics is reaching out to our families for your help with an issue that affects us all. As you know, the State of Missouri decided to begin taxing instructional classes for children two years ago. Missouri is the only state in the nation that does so. We believe this is an unfair burden on the families that work hard to provide extracurricular activities for their children.
As a company that tries hard to do the right thing, we were forced to begin collecting sales tax on each class in our company in February of 2015 to stay compliant with Missouri state laws. For the time period that we have collected and passed through these sales tax monies, we have filed “Under Protest”, aligning with our belief that these additional taxes are unfair and harmful to the families of Missouri. During this time period, we have also worked with other gyms, our Representatives, and our Senators to overturn this ruling. After several other bills fell short of the mark, SB 1025 (a bill designed to exempt instructional classes from sales tax) passed unanimously in the Senate and near unanimously (134 – 7) in the House, before being vetoed by Governor Nixon, despite overwhelming support in the legislature.
SB 1025 will be back in the Missouri Legislature for an override vote on September 14, 2016, during the veto session. This is the only chance there is for this bill to be overridden. If it is not, the process will have to start from scratch in 2017, ensuring another year of unfair collection of sales tax on instructional classes.
Because this bill passed so overwhelmingly through the Legislature, we believe that there is a great chance the override vote will succeed. In order to be successful, a two thirds vote by both houses is required. If each Senator and Representative holds true to their original vote on the matter, the override vote will be a success - creating tax relief for Olympiad families and all Missouri families that participate in dance, gymnastics, martial arts, parkour/ninja, swimming, tennis, and other sports that require instruction.
This is where we would like to ask for your help. Beginning in the middle of August, we would like each Olympiad family to contact the Senator and Representative of the district their Olympiad Gymnastics gym is in, as well as the legislators in the district you live in, urging them to stay true to their original vote. We believe that if legislators hear from their constituents who are impacted by this sales tax ruling, they will hold to their original vote, which is all we need them to do to make the override vote a success.
Below, you will find a chart showing the Senators and Representatives for each gym, as well as a link that will take you to Open States, a website that enables you to type in your address and find out who your representatives are. On our website, you will find a sample script for the call, as well as links to the full text of the bill and other resources about this issue.
Beginning in August, each gym will have a form letter that you can fill out at the gym. We will collect these and mail them in batches to the appropriate representative.
Please join us in our efforts to encourage our elected officials to duplicate what they already have done – passed SB 1025 and lessened the tax burden on Missouri families.
Sincerely,
Ray Overmann
Owner, Olympiad Gymnastics
How to find the
Senator and Representative for the district you live in:
Links to SB 1025
Information
A history of the issue: http://dreilinglaw.com/test/
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Olympiad....Not just Gymnastics
Olympiad has been in the business of kids since 1979 and started with a small gym in Florissant, MO. Now Olympiad has expanded to 6 locations and we are not just any gymnastics facility. Olympiad is host to over 3500 kids each week. Not only do we offer gymnastics classes to children from toddler to teenage we also offer other programs and special activities on a weekly or monthly basis. Olympiad was started with a mission to build "Happy, Healthy, Confident Children". How do we do that.....by offering opportunities that every child can participate in.
In 2015, we started a new program called Ninja. Our Ninja Program is
Here is what else you can find at Olympiad Gymnastics...
- KID'S NIGHT OUT: We offer a Kid's Night Out once a month where you can drop your child off from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. and they have fun doing gymnastics, making crafts, participating in games and fun obstacle courses all while you go out and enjoy an evening with friends or family.
- SUMMER CAMPS: We offer summer camps throughout the summer and day camps on days your kids are off school. We offer daily and weekly camps. The kids will spend their day making refrigerator worth art pieces, participating in gymnastics related activities and fun games.
- BIRTHDAY PARTIES: We offer birthday parties for all ages. Don't want to mess up your house and then have to clean it again? You can have it at Olympiad and we will do it all for you. Set up, Entertain, Supervise and Clean up! The kids will jump, run, twist, climb, leap, swing and bounce their way through a fun birthday event. One that your child will be sure to remember.
- OPEN GYM: We have a weekly open gym where you child can come and work on skills they may be struggling with or want to improve so they can move up to the next level. Trying out for cheerleading...open gym can help with that as well. Come and practice your cheers in front of our floor length mirrors or have an instructor critique you on your jumps and moves. Need help with tumbling? We can help with
- PRIVATE LESSONS: Can't find a day/time that works for you or need to get that back handspring for cheer tryouts....we offer private lessons where your child can work one-on-one with an instructor and learn at their own pace.
CHEERLEADING & DANCE AT OLYMPIAD
- SPIRIT ELITE: Spirit Elite, a division of Olympiad Gymnastics is one of the largest recreational and competitive cheerleading organizations in St. Louis. They offer recreational cheerleading and tumbling classes as well as All Star Competitive cheerleading. They have won several National titles and have a team of staff that are dedicated and passionate about the sport of cheerleading.
- DANCE FEVER: Our Festus location is home to Dance Fever, a recreational and competitive dance program. They offer tap, ballet and hip hop. Dance Fever is another division of Olympiad and continues to grow and be a part of the Festus community.
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