Members will notice improvements to J-Fitness

The fitness team, left to right, Luke Brookner, Heather C. Stearns, London Blake and Angela Sullivan /Photo | IRINA MISSIUROJ-Fitness has recently undergone some changes, and the team members want you to know what’s going on at the center. Initially, Heather C. Stearns came on board as aquatics director, and now she is the general manager of J-Fitness. Overseeing the restructuring of the department, Stearns is refining ways to accommodate members’ needs. Recently, she hired London Blake, “the missing link to our team,” to fill the role of aquatics director and head coach of the TigerSharks. Hailing from Dover, Massachusetts, this graduate of Whittier College brings 17 years of swimming and nine years of coaching experience.

The center’s children and adolescents will benefit from Angela Sullivan’s transition from a fitness professional to youth sports manager. Stearns said she saw a need for youth-oriented sports programming and decided that Sullivan would be a great candidate for the role. Sullivan will be able to rely on her internship at the Springfield JCC, where she developed youth programs, for inspiration. Both Stearns and Sullivan are looking forward to collaborating with Michelle Cicchitelli who oversees youth programming. Stearns says, “The ability to work more closely with Michelle Cicchitelli, director of Jewish Life, is something I am very excited to be able to do. We share a similar vision in wanting to bridge our departments to create better services, experiences and programs for our members.”

Luke Brookner’s role change completes Stearns’ plan to “lay the groundwork for a fresh start, new programs for all ages and demographics and strive for stronger communication with the community.” Brookner’s position as fitness manager has been expanded to oversee group exercise classes, manage personal fitness trainers, maintain fitness equipment and work in partnership with Stearns to develop specialty fitness programs.

Brookner loves offering fitness tips to members and enabling them to reach their goals. This allows him “to vicariously share in the sense of accomplishment that accompanies reaching a fitness milestone.” Brookner believes that one of J-Fitness’ strengths is the powerful sense of community that members, instructors and trainers value. He says, “As we begin to build exciting new programs and redesign our facility, it will be important to ensure that these relationships, and the shared commitment to overall health and wellness that has grown out of them, serve as the foundation of a familiar, but revitalized, fitness center.”

IRINA MISSIURO is a writer and editorial consultant for The Jewish Voice.