This week's New Yorker is a Hall of Fame gymnast who's encouraging young New Yorkers to stay in shape by soaring to new heights. NY1's Ruschell Boone filed the following report.

Here, the gymnasts don’t mind bending over backwards when it comes to flying high. 

"You get to do all these flips, baranis, back tucks," says participant Matthew Dayle. "It's the best experience of my life."

It's an experience that introduced Wendy Hilliard to new possibilities.

As a teen, Wendy competed internationally with the U.S. national team for rhythmic gymnastics. She later trained an Olympian for the 1996 Summer Games. 

"When I saw my gymnast walk out on opening ceremony, it was pretty mind-blowing, because they always have the gymnasts up front because they're so short, they lead the U.S. delegation" Wendy says. "But something in that told me that I wanted to give even the sliver of this opportunity to a lot of other kids."

So after living her dream, Wendy is letting kids pursue theirs. In 1996, she created the Wendy Hilliard Foundation. The nonprofit provides free and low-cost gymnastics to young New Yorkers. 

"It's a progressive sport. You don't do that fabulous thing on the balance beam without learning to do a handstand and then a cartwheel and then a back hand spring," she says. "I want them to be focused, I want them to have a good work ethic, I want them to be healthy. And I tell you, you have to teach these things when they're young."

By doing just that, Wendy’s life lessons stick. 

"You need to have confidence, believe in yourself, and you have to have special techniques like pointing your toes at the right time," says participant John Smith.

"So it teaches kids from an early age time management," says Patrice Armour, program consultant with the Wendy Hilliard Foundation. "A lot of times, you'll find very high-level gymnasts who are also A-plus students, and they can do what they love and make sure they go forward in life."

The foundation's year-round clinics in Harlem have touched the lives of 15,000 students across the city. 

"I'm doing things that I've never been able to do before in my life," says participant Zakiyyah Flores. "I was really scared to even do a handstand to a bridge, I was really scared, and now, it's just as easy as pie for me."

So, for encouraging kids to be healthiest they can be, bar none, Wendy Hilliard is the New Yorker of the Week.

For more information on the Wendy Hilliard Foundation, visit whfny.org