Pictures!

Our 3rd practice was this past Monday and it went really well! We got uniform & tshirt sizes nailed down and the girls reviewed the chants they'd learned. Here are some pictures from the night.

The cheerleaders about to demonstrate a stunt...

the girls decided they wanted to try!

Kara taking her turn (laughing, of course!)

I also happened to catch Steph mid-laugh :)

Miss Mo did SO well!

Cora's turn..she's always smiling, so sweet!

Victoria was joining us from the balcony

All the gorgeous girls together!

Sadly, my camera died after this - so I didn't get a great group shot.

'Til next time, peace :)

Practice

We had our second practice Monday. It went really well, smoother than the first because we're slowly getting the hang of it. They tried on uniforms which was really exciting! Hopefully we'll have those pretty soon, and then we can get an official count for t-shirts. We're still trying to get this program to run well every practice/event we have, so keep us in your thoughts/prayers. I don't have too much to say - hopefully some pictures soon! Peace :)

We're in the Newspaper!

Because the Chronicle requires a password to get into their website, I'll just post the article here.

Special needs students to shine

Free program will offer students a chance to cheer

By Courtney Flynn
cflynn@chronicle-tribune.com

Published: Friday, July 9, 2010 1:08 AM EDT

Marion Community Schools will soon be offering a new activity for special needs students in the county, and a form of community service for the Marion High School cheerleading team.

The Marion Shining Stars is free program that will offer special needs students, girls and boys in grades five through 12, an opportunity to be a part of a team and learn various cheers, stunts and routines, MHS Cheerleading Coach Ron Vermilion said.

“We’ll do a lot of repetition,” he said.

These cheers and routines will be taught by some of the MHS cheerleaders, while Vermilion and Brittney Pearson, who will help coach the Shining Stars, oversee the program.

MHS Cheerleading Captain Katlynn said she hopes after a couple of practices, the students will begin to feel comfortable doing some of the easier, more basic, cheer routines.

Vermilion said practices will be one or two days a week, with each practice session lasting less than an hour. He said eventually he would like to get those involved on the team prepared to do some cheers at football and basketball games. Vermilion’s hopes are set on having a routine together for the first home MHS football game, he said.

Pearson, who came up with the idea after watching a television show, said she wanted to bring something to the Marion community that helped integrate the special needs students.

“It’s really important for people to know that all people are people,” she said.

With this program, Pearson said she hopes the volunteers will better understand how to interact with special needs students, and the special needs students will feel more integrated into the community.

Vermilion said he thinks this program will also encourage more community service throughout the MCS district.

“I just think it’s a good idea to get involved in the community,” Nall said.

Nall said she has been involved with community service projects before, but nothing likes this. She said she is excited for the opportunity and to spread the word.

Vermilion said all 30 of his cheerleaders want to be involved in the program, but that number will be based on the number of special needs students who want to participate.

The first informational meeting will take place at 6 p.m. July 21 in the MHS library.

About Us

This is Ronnie & me. I graduated from Marion in 2008, but went to Lakeview for seven years prior. I did cheerleading from 6th-12th grade. After graduating I went to Kaye's Beauty School in Noblesville, IN. I am currently back home in Marion working at 5 Stars Salon. Enough about me! Ronnie is a Marion boy who coaches cheerleading and teaches at MHS. He is incredibly dedicated to everything he does and he's always positive. He has three beautiful children - they look just like him! We are both very excited to begin this journey and get things started with the girls. We discussed with them this morning what kind of commitment this is going to be and what attitude will be required. Currently, we're working on getting a human interest story in the newspaper to find the special needs students interested in being involved. All for now, peace :)

What We're Doing

Ronnie (my HS coach) and I are starting a program at Marion to incorporate special needs students onto the cheerleading squad with a core group of his current girls. They will be called "The Shining Stars" - the perfect name Ronnie thought of! The girls who started The Sparkle Effect can be read about here. Why would I be doing this, you may ask. Well, Marion has a special needs program in place, but the integration system is a bit lacking. Also, until the past couple of years, I was not very conscious about my language or my actions. I think it will be a good experience for the girls already on the cheerleading squad to become more conscious about the way they live and speak.

Currently, we are just waiting for an official "OK" from Mr. Bragg, although he has already told us we could get things rolling. Ronnie and I met Thursday to discuss some things. We're in the process of getting the newspaper to do a story so that we can get the word out there and get some girls interested in the program. I've actually already got one girl who wants to be involved - so exciting! We also went to ProPrints and talked to Keaton's mom about some t-shirt ideas and prices. We've talked to some individuals and companies interested in sponsoring us financially so that we can offer this to the girls free of charge. That's about as far as things are as of now. So until next time, peace :)

Up & Running

HUGE thanks to Andrew for helping me create our banner and adjust some colors/settings. He put in about an hour of hard work that I could not have done! A more detailed post will be made when I have some extra time. Peace :)