Call (from the sidelines) Us.......Maybe?

Spirits were high with over thirty cheerleaders dancing to the lyrics of “Call Me….Maybe”  during half time at the final regular season home football game on October 12  (DS vs Medway).  Over eighteen girls from Pine Hill and the Chickering Schools attended the second annual fall cheer clinic hosted by the thirteen members of the DSHS cheer team prior to the game.  They spent over two hours learning a dance and sideline cheers from their mentors, the high school cheer team.  As a special treat the football coach Joey Schotland and a few of the Football Captains even stopped by to show their support for the cheer program during the clinic and talk to the girls about how much they value our program.  Following the clinic the participants had a pizza dinner with the team and then watched the cheerteam during their pre-game warm-ups.   

At half time the middle school football team had a flag football scrimmage and the young girls were invited to cheer them on.  The clinic attendees all wore t-shirts that said “Rising Raiders Cheerleaders”.  Hopefully many of these girls will continue their cheer enthusiasm and in fact, become Raiders Cheerleaders when they arrive at the high school.

Last week during the Buddy Walk(fundraiser for Down Syndrome) in Wakefield that our cheer team help support we were introduced to a young girl with Down Syndrome (we call her “ our real life Becky” for those who watch Glee) .  Of note, Lauren Potter better known as “Becky” on Glee was the keynote speaker at this event…thus the cheer connection.  During the Buddy Walk  “our real life Becky’s” dad mentioned that she aspired to be a cheerleader but due to her condition was not invited to join the high school team in her western suburban town.   He said the word “inclusion” was not in that schools vocabulary.   Since we would be hosting the cheer clinic the following week, head coach Patty Gallagher suggested she come and join the event with our team.  With much energy and enthusiasm our “Becky” participated and referring to the warmth and support of our girls stated  "Thanks for not giving up on me". Clearly hearing this made the clinic and event one of the most meaningful experiences for our team. 

Although the cheer team hasn’t grown much in numbers this year the skill level of the DSHS cheerleaders continues to grow each week.  The next few weeks are away games but the girls will be at each game and practicing hard for the high school Pep Rally, Bon Fire and final home game vs Medfield on Thanksgiving Day.   You won’t want to miss the new cheers they are working on for these events.  Be sure to check out our photo gallery on the DS Cheer 2012 facebook page.