Whenever another teacher in a studio watches me with a client, they ask where I got trained and when they hear TPS with Gina Papalia and Tricia O’Donnell they say, “You can tell!” Many seasoned instructors compliment my teaching and my training because they are happy to see I worked with a program that instills the classical method when so many today do not. I did my in person observations with Gina Papalia, who went above and beyond the program’s textbook. She would stay after hours with us until we knew every in and out of the TPS program. Gina would have us create lists of other things we may want to learn about or modifications we could use. Having her as my teacher, I felt more than prepared for every test and every client that came my way. Some days I would walk into Gina’s studio and she would have a surprise teaching body waiting for me. I very quickly had to get over the fear of teaching on the spot and that was very challenging and scary. I am so grateful for those times that I could not overthink the situation and just had to teach because that’s what teaching is all about. You have to think creatively on the spot and learn to modify or adapt for the client’s body. I overcame this fear from all of my studying, observation hours and practice teaching. The more clients and different body types I taught, the more knowledge I collected and comfortable I felt. Tricia was my teacher in college so I already got a great foundation coming into the program from her. There was a lot I didn’t know before starting TPS but I felt ready for the weekend workshops because of Tricia & Gina’s amazing training. Splitting the weekend trainings between Gina & Tricia was much preferred because they both bring different qualities to the training from the same groundwork and their 30 + years of experience. Teaching now, I’m glad I was taught from two teachers rather than just one because I have double the knowledge and double the minds to pull ideas from. When I get a client that needs specific modifications, I’m able to think, “what would Tricia or Gina do?” The TPS structure and my teacher’s lessons were so clear that even now, 5 years since I joined TPS, I can hear in my head every single little detailed cue that I was taught. I am so grateful for the program and I can feel confident in my work every day because of it. TPS, Tricia O’Donnell and Gina Papalia love what they do, who they teach and only want to share that with others. The program is wonderful because they want to create more teachers who share their passion. It was a loving, warm and safe environment to be trained in.

~ Sarah R. TPS Apprentice 2021