Last year, 12-year-old Kayleigh Texter of Lower Pottsgrove Township received an award for being the 2014 Assistant Instructor of the Year in taekwondo at Dragon Star Martial Arts in Limerick Township.
Her skill level is second-degree black belt.
Texter, a sixth-grader at Pottsgrove Middle School, began learning taekwondo there in 2008.
Dragon Star Martial Arts opened in 2002 and has students from ages 3 to 65.
“I like the learning aspects of it because it’s not just all about the martial arts,” she said of taekwondo. “It’s also about the culture and the language, too.”
And social angles of being at the studio are something Texter appreciates, as well.
“I like the friendships I’ve built there, assisting kids and getting to know them,” she said.
Her favorite move is the reverse hooking kick.
“It’s when you are facing the right, completely sideways, you turn 180 degrees backwards and kind of hook your kick over so it comes around straight and then it hooks at the very end,” Texter said. “I like that the most because it shows off my flexibility and my gracefulness.”
Her lead instructor, Robert Benedetto, explained that Texter has taught close to 100 students since she began acting as an instructor at age 10.
Her passion for teaching, commitment and her great relationships with the younger students are what Benedetto said qualified Texter to receive the teaching honor, a rare achievement for someone her age.
“She is very mature, takes pride in assisting and has a professional approach to helping the younger kids,” he said. “She brings great spirit and energy to the classes.”
Texter said students don’t just become instructors but have to help out at first in classes, as she did for a long time.
She teaches two classes each week, and they last for 45 minutes to an hour.
Most of Texter’s instruction involves 7- to 9-year-olds, but she sometimes works with Little Dragons, those who are 3 to 4 years old.
“I feel very proud and happy to help,” she said. “It helps to engage you, and you’re still learning as you’re teaching.”
Texter said she has noticed that some of her students are shy and can take up to six months to comfortably talk in class, while others are more socially outgoing and speak in class right away.
And she said she hopes they take away dedication and responsibility from her instruction.
Confident in her skills, she plans to compete at nationals and later the worldwide championship hosted by the International TaeKwon-Do Federation, with the overseas competition in London in 2016.
Her father, Earl Texter, competed at last year’s international championship in Rome; he began to practice taekwondo a few weeks after she did, learning from his daughter that he’d enjoy this kind of martial arts, too.
