ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Metro Gymnastics, a space normally filled with laughter, dance and dynamic movement, has held a somber tone for the last several days.

The staff and students have been struggling with something unimaginable: One of their star gymnasts is no longer with them. T’Yonna Major, 9, was killed in one of three shootings in Pine Hills on Feb. 22. Two others were killed int he the same day, while two more were injured.

One of T’Yonna’s coaches at OMG, Donna Alexin, said Monday was difficult, since it was their first practice without her.

“We didn’t talk about it much at the beginning," Alexin said. "We saved some time at the end — we just sat down in a circle and they shared things they remembered about T, or little stories,"

“We told the girls, ‘Write whatever you want to T, we’re going to put it in a balloon and at the funeral, we’ll all hold the string and then we’ll let go of it together and it will go up to heaven to her and she can read all our notes,’" she said. "So yeah, that day was really hard.”

Friday was another moment for reflection and support for the Major family. All four OMG sites held open gym sessions and pledged that the funds raised during the designated hours would go toward supporting T’Yonna’s family.

Alexin was T’Yonna’s teacher for only about a year, but from the way they spoke of one another, it was clear that they had a profound impact on each other’s lives. Alexin told Spectrum News 13 that she was one of the first people that T’Yonna’s father called after she passed away.

“He just said I had impacted her life in a way that no one else had and that he needed me to know right away,” Alexin said. “It was just so hard to hear those words and just to think that she was only 9-years-old and had her entire life ahead of her.”

Alexin said her favorite thing about T’Yonna was her smile. She also said T’Yonna became a de facto leader of her gymnastics team, not only for her skill and the rate at which she was improving, but also for her compassion for her teammates.

“It was awesome because she just had that great personality and she had great characteristics," she said. "Major team player, always cared and concerned about her teammates."

Alexin said she was asked to speak at T’Yonna’s funeral, which she described as a great honor. She said she is a Christian and has no doubt that she will see T’Yonna again.

“I’ll carry her forward in my heart and I know I’ll see her again,” she said. “And when I see her, she’ll be waving at the gates of heaven for me and probably be hosting a back handspring contest with the angels or something. She’ll be up there still doing gymnastics.”