GirlsGymnasticsTeamFees

My name is Melissa Martinez and I have the most amazing blended family. I actually have 7 children (two adopted at ages 10 & 7 who are now adults and have their own kiddos--the girls were former students of mine). I have two bonus daughters who are 14 and 11 and 3 bio kiddos (12, 10, 6...two more girls and one boy). We have 4 out of the 5 kiddos that are still with us at home that are athletes and the 5th one is one as well, but decided she wanted a break from Dance this May and hasn't resumed at this point. Our 14 year old plays softball for her High School right now, but then also plays rec or club ball. She is so naturally gifted! Our 12 year old son plays both hockey (a goalie) and does jiu jitsu 5 days a week. He is an incredible athlete. Our 10 and 6 year old girls both made the Level 2 Gymnastics Team this past July. They are very gifted athletes and moved into the team slot within a few months of rejoining gymnastics at Hyland Hills. I am a career educator (worked for Jeffco Public Schools and Denver Public Schools for most of my career until my school closed at the end of 2023. I was also a Crisis Case Manager for Allhealth Network (at night and simultaneously with teaching) until budget cuts caused layoffs this January (2024). I am currently a Talent Acquisition Specialist for Fathom Realty. I LOVE what I do and LOVE building relationships with folks in all 3 of my career paths. Trying to afford to raise 5 kids and still provide them the opportunity to CONTINUALLY train/participate in their athletics has been incredibly difficult! My husband runs his own production company, but was laid off from his regular job back in June.  I am trying to seek 2nd and even 3rd jobs to help, but have not been super successful. Nor have we been super successful in fundraising endeavors. I am willing to help clean any of the facilities my kiddos go to, help tutor student athletes to keep their grades up, etc. We always give back when we can, but seem to just never quite have that leg up. There are times where we have had to put our kiddos sports on hold because we couldn't afford to keep going and we are hitting that wall once again.