Ignition Station
History & Plans
The Ignition Station First Opened in...
2017
What it was:
The Ignition Station was a free after school program available for any student. For the first few years we rented a warehouse in Kilgore and were funded by a few donations and by the founder (Hannah) who was a school teacher at the time. All staff was volunteer only.
Goals of Ignition Station:
- Provide a safe place for children after school that focused on character development and building strong minds and strong bodies through CrossFit and movement (parkour like) activities, character lessons, and Bible stories.
Unfortunately, this business model was not sustainable (completely free, minimal donations, 60% funded by founder, no paid employees).
In 2019 we moved to meeting at a local school to save money, but we were still ran solely by volunteers.
In 2020 we were no longer able to meet where we had been meeting and the Ignition Station temporally closed down.
In the summers of 2021 and 2022 Coach Hannah ran free parkour programs as Parkour Ignite at Crosspointe Church.
Currently there is still an official non-profit for the Ignition Station that has been inactive.
Here are the phases we are working on in order to bring back the Ignition Station with a more sustainable business and staffing model.
Prayer Team #1
We are taking a step forward in the process of raising awareness about what the Ignition Station is about and growing our prayer team as members from our community join the team of people praying for wisdom, direction, and God's provision as we take steps forward in creating a sustainable model for the Ignition Station.
Financial Sustainability #2
We are focusing on the business Parkour East Texas in order to create a sustainable source of quality coaches as well as sustainable finances to help accommodate running a gym that does not charge enough to cover costs. The goal is to share a gym with Parkour East Texas and Ignition Station. As Parkour East Texas continues to grow the goal is to be able to help finance additional gym buildings and the launching of new Ignition Station Locations around East Texas.
Building #3
We enjoyed having our own space when we rented the warehouse from 2017-2019, but that comes with bills. Once Parkour East Texas has financial sustainability (making a profit regularly from month to month) our goal is to open our first gym location in the general Kilgore area. This would allow Parkour East Texas and the Ignition Station to share a location and run regular after school classes and summer camps that are not dependent on the weather.
Sliding Scale Price Options #4
Our goal with the Ignition Station 2.0 is not to make it completely free. We have found when things are 100% free it in some cases leads to being taken advantage of and the service not valued. It also leads to a practical issue of who pays for bills. (We did have many who valued the free services of the Ignition Station and used the services wisely, but we also had some unpleasant experiences with people taking advantage of them.)
Our goal with a sliding scale price option is to make the Ignition Station available to all kids while still having parents partner in the work and not viewing our services as cheap free babysitting.
Hired Staff #5
Running a 5 day a week program and Summer Camp program on 100% volunteers (mostly from the same handful or people) can quickly lead to burn out for volunteers. Our goal is to create a business plan that allows the Ignition Station to be fully staffed by paid employees so we can have more consistency and longevity for our leaders and coaches.
Multiple Locations #6
After creating a process, system, and method of financial sustainability our goal is to expand across 10 cities in East Texas by the end of 2033.
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Why not just do it all free?
Why start with a business that charges?
In our experience people value what they pay for more than what is available for free. Also, charging allows us to pay for training programs for our coaching staff and cover costs of software, insurance, and other recurring fees associated with running a business. Paying our coaches and staff also allows them to allocate more time, energy, and quality to the work they do.
We understand some cannot afford the cost of classes, but right now our goal is creating a sustainable business that allows us to take steps into strategically opening the Ignition Station and a more sustainable manner.
"My child loves Ignition Station. She looks forward to it every day and talks about it nonstop. I love that she is being physically active. There is alot more to life than staying indoors and playing video games and I appreciate Ms Beets [Waddle] and her family for wanting to better the lives of our children."
Ignition Station Parent- 2018
"My 8 year-old has been attending Parkour classes here for a couple years now. She used to be so scared of physical challenges (she would not even climb a jungle gym). She has grown so much by attending these classes."
Parkour Ignite Parent - 2022
