She walks about the room adjusting hand positions and correcting body movements. She has to lean close to her students' ears to be heard over the music echoing off the walls.
It's a Tuesday night at Katina Dunkerly's hula hooping class at the Frank Brown Recreation Center.
During Hoopla, as her class is called, Dunkerly, 25, encourages novices and guides experts how to better handle their hoops.
"I love hooping," Dunkerly said, "and I'm really wanting to try to just spread the word of hooping wherever I go. I know it sounds weird, but I don't think I've ever been in a bad mood when I've been hula hooping."
Which was exactly what Dunkerly had to do when she first came to Auburn, as it was difficult for her to find fellow hoopers.
Dunkerly said she was able to find a few, but she resorted to forming a Facebook group to get more people interested.
Now she teaches classes for beginner and advanced hula hoopers at the rec center.
"I'm really happy that I've gotten it started here in Auburn and that its really starting to spread," Dunkerly said. "A lot more people are getting into the hooping and seeing what it's all about and having fun with it."
But Dunkerly won't be whirling her rings on The Plains much longer. Soon she's moving to the Keys to pursue an internship related to her other passion -- special education.
She'll be doing dolphin assisted therapy to teach children with behavioral disorders like autism.
"Which has actually been my job since I was 13," Dunkerly said. "So I'm really excited about that. I'm like, 'Oh, I get to live in the Keys and play with the children I love and the dolphins that I love.'"
Regardless of whether the student is a special needs child or someone who can't get their hoop to stay off the ground, Dunkerly loves to teach.
"Being able to teach someone or help someone do something that will improve their life I just find absolutely rewarding," Dunkerly said.
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