By Mikayla van Loon
It’s been Marion Stott’s pride and joy for nearly 40 years but it’s now time for her to retire and pass the baton to a new generation.
Ms Stott, with the help of her husband Lloyd, has played an essential role in many children’s lives through the GymbaRoo early learning program run at the Mooroolbark Community Centre but last year she made the decision to move on.
Now the time has come for new people to take over and although a bittersweet moment for Ms Stott, she is looking forward to her retirement.
“I plan to spend my time writing up a wide variety of Family History’s plus being involved in local history,” she said.
For 37 years, Ms Stott ran the GymbaRoo classes for the benefit of the children and their developmental progress but for her it will be their smiling faces she misses most.
“It has been such a huge privilege, when you are doing a job you love, it’s not work,” she said.
Having been involved in GymbaRoo nearly since its inception, Ms Stott has not only helped establish the Mooroolbark centre but others as well.
“I’m very proud that the other GymbaRoo Centres I helped establish back in the late 1980’s are still thriving.”
Her only hope now is that “that many, many more children benefit from such a successful program” and with new owners Nikki and Peter Copp, Ms Stott should get her wish.
The husband and wife team already own a couple of GymbaRoo centres elsewhere and when they heard through the channels that Ms Stott was retiring, they thought it would be a nice synergy to return to where they both grew up.
“I actually went to this GymbaRoo when I was a child so weirdly enough, she’s been here 38 years and I’m 31, so somewhere in there, I came along,” Mr Copp said.
Mrs Copp has a background in early childhood learning and Mr Copp’s family has always been involved in childcare.
Now the pair just want to reassure families in the area that GymbaRoo will be staying in Mooroolbark.
“With the new estate coming there’s going to be a lot more kids here, so we just want to make sure that the next generation gets gymbaroo as well,” Mr Copp said.
Mr and Mrs Copp want to see Mooroolbark’s GymbaRoo classes return to pre-Covid levels and have a vision of progressively expanding the centre’s capabilities to offer more classes to more children.
“I think once you become a part of gymbaroo, you stay a part of Gymbaroo for a long time so that’s our plan to be here for a long time,” Mr Copp said.
Ms Stott has offered to stay onboard for term one, to help transition Mr and Mrs Copp and introduce them to the families.
“They are giving us about 10 weeks of their time just to help us really embed ourselves into the community and that’s definitely something we’re going to thank them for,” Mr Copp said.
