Instructor Profile - Sue Wartell
Sue Wartell
Meet Sue Wartell - by Barbara McLean February 2017
There is a ‘mighty’ wonderful class at OLLI that has been taught for the last ten years by a most delightful, tiny little person named Sue Wartell. Named, IF YOU CAN WALK YOU CAN DANCE, it is a class with large following of OLLI members who take the class over and over again because of Sue’s inventive, enthusiastic, fun loving instruction. This mighty little lady loves to teach, “especially OLLI folk” with whom she feels a special bond. Her eyes twinkle as she describes the joy she finds in helping OLLI members move their bodies as they do barre exercises, stretching, Pilates, and then a dance that she changes weekly to match the calendar. When it is near St Patrick’s Day they do an Irish dance and follow that with other dances of each season. “One Chinese New Year, a student from China brought in her family to teach the class a Chinese step.” It is clearly the enjoyment, delight, and sense of community that Sue creates in her class that brings students back again and again. “We celebrate birthdays, we get together outside of class and have even taken a trip to the beach” she smilingly recalls. “We have a wonderful time together as we work hard to keep ourselves fit”.
It was as a student that Sue began her OLLI teaching career. She was enrolled in an OLLI exercise class when the instructor had to leave. Following yet another class and another teacher leaving, the class members gathered around her and said, “Why don’t you teach this class? You can do this! We need you!” And so, Sue said, “I suddenly thought to myself yes, I could teach this class …..and so I did!”
Having coached just about all manner of sports teams, Sue has also made a career of teaching classes to people wanting to improve their athletic skills and general health. Her philosophy as a personal trainer is to encourage each client to learn the basics with her, then to exercise on their own, without scheduling an appointment with her on a regular basis so they can become truly independent. “I help them find something that they love to do with their bodies, then teach and encourage them to do it.” And she urges anyone to find a buddy to exercise with “either two legged or four legged” she laughingly admonishes. “It is harder to stop exercising when someone is waiting for you”.
Sue is not a native Carolinian, but hails from that popular but cold state of New York. Born in Levittown, Long Island, she moved to Staten Island after being married and then relocated with husband Wayne to North Carolina to start a new business called THE PACKAGING DEPOT. “We looked at the list of the best places to live in America, and picked Durham to start our own packaging/mailing business she recalls. That was in 1993 – and they have been here ever since although they closed their
business in 2012, and “retired”. Well, sort of! In addition to their business, Sue has always been a personal trainer and fitness instructor. She works at many locations, teaching just about all forms of fitness classes throughout the Triangle be they individual or group. “I love to dance” she says and clearly designs the kinds of creative movement in her classes that reflect that.
Sue and her husband Wayne, who moved to Pittsboro in 1996, have two dogs that account for a lot of activity in their household. They dress the dogs up for events and even took the dogs to their business where customers often came, not to mail packages, but to pet the doggies! “I love animals” says Sue “any animals”! When she found out there was a tiger rescuing facility in Pittsboro, she immediately went to investigate and fell in love with all the animals there. For the past five years, Sue has been doing tours for Carolina Tiger Rescue and is a passionate advocate for tigers and other animals in the wild. Her enthusiasm for her volunteer task and the amount of information she has garnered is indeed contagious. Sue just sparkles as she describes her work!
In fact, in a straightforward and dignified way, Sue is joyfully passionate about whatever she does, especially as she puts time and thought into teaching people to love and care for their bodies. She devotes herself to her craft, giving handouts each
week to her OLLI students to help them with healthy lifestyles, and infuses cultural learning into the dances she teaches thus making each class different and special. Her creativity and enthusiasm in her every task is very infectious! She is bright and thoughtful and devoted to her teaching. Naming her class from a poem she loves reflects her dedication to helping OLLI students keep moving and doing.
“If you can talk you can sing
If you can walk you can dance”
And with Sue Wartell as you friend and teacher, you will indeed….. dance!
There is a ‘mighty’ wonderful class at OLLI that has been taught for the last ten years by a most delightful, tiny little person named Sue Wartell. Named, IF YOU CAN WALK YOU CAN DANCE, it is a class with large following of OLLI members who take the class over and over again because of Sue’s inventive, enthusiastic, fun loving instruction. This mighty little lady loves to teach, “especially OLLI folk” with whom she feels a special bond. Her eyes twinkle as she describes the joy she finds in helping OLLI members move their bodies as they do barre exercises, stretching, Pilates, and then a dance that she changes weekly to match the calendar. When it is near St Patrick’s Day they do an Irish dance and follow that with other dances of each season. “One Chinese New Year, a student from China brought in her family to teach the class a Chinese step.” It is clearly the enjoyment, delight, and sense of community that Sue creates in her class that brings students back again and again. “We celebrate birthdays, we get together outside of class and have even taken a trip to the beach” she smilingly recalls. “We have a wonderful time together as we work hard to keep ourselves fit”.
It was as a student that Sue began her OLLI teaching career. She was enrolled in an OLLI exercise class when the instructor had to leave. Following yet another class and another teacher leaving, the class members gathered around her and said, “Why don’t you teach this class? You can do this! We need you!” And so, Sue said, “I suddenly thought to myself yes, I could teach this class …..and so I did!”
Having coached just about all manner of sports teams, Sue has also made a career of teaching classes to people wanting to improve their athletic skills and general health. Her philosophy as a personal trainer is to encourage each client to learn the basics with her, then to exercise on their own, without scheduling an appointment with her on a regular basis so they can become truly independent. “I help them find something that they love to do with their bodies, then teach and encourage them to do it.” And she urges anyone to find a buddy to exercise with “either two legged or four legged” she laughingly admonishes. “It is harder to stop exercising when someone is waiting for you”.
Sue is not a native Carolinian, but hails from that popular but cold state of New York. Born in Levittown, Long Island, she moved to Staten Island after being married and then relocated with husband Wayne to North Carolina to start a new business called THE PACKAGING DEPOT. “We looked at the list of the best places to live in America, and picked Durham to start our own packaging/mailing business she recalls. That was in 1993 – and they have been here ever since although they closed their
business in 2012, and “retired”. Well, sort of! In addition to their business, Sue has always been a personal trainer and fitness instructor. She works at many locations, teaching just about all forms of fitness classes throughout the Triangle be they individual or group. “I love to dance” she says and clearly designs the kinds of creative movement in her classes that reflect that.
Sue and her husband Wayne, who moved to Pittsboro in 1996, have two dogs that account for a lot of activity in their household. They dress the dogs up for events and even took the dogs to their business where customers often came, not to mail packages, but to pet the doggies! “I love animals” says Sue “any animals”! When she found out there was a tiger rescuing facility in Pittsboro, she immediately went to investigate and fell in love with all the animals there. For the past five years, Sue has been doing tours for Carolina Tiger Rescue and is a passionate advocate for tigers and other animals in the wild. Her enthusiasm for her volunteer task and the amount of information she has garnered is indeed contagious. Sue just sparkles as she describes her work!
In fact, in a straightforward and dignified way, Sue is joyfully passionate about whatever she does, especially as she puts time and thought into teaching people to love and care for their bodies. She devotes herself to her craft, giving handouts each
week to her OLLI students to help them with healthy lifestyles, and infuses cultural learning into the dances she teaches thus making each class different and special. Her creativity and enthusiasm in her every task is very infectious! She is bright and thoughtful and devoted to her teaching. Naming her class from a poem she loves reflects her dedication to helping OLLI students keep moving and doing.
“If you can talk you can sing
If you can walk you can dance”
And with Sue Wartell as you friend and teacher, you will indeed….. dance!
Editor's Note : If you would like to show appreciation to the profiled instructor, you can email to instructor-profile@olliatduke.org