Varsity Cheerleading Update
Jefferson Junior High School
Competition Follow-Up
Thank you so much to everyone who helped make sure that the girls were able to compete this weekend! Thank you to Mrs. McKendree, Mrs. Rozema, and Mrs. Baran for organizing a practice for the girls when I was stranded out of the country with flights cancelled because of the storms. I was so impressed that all of the girls were able to go to Seven Bridges, even on a day we didn't have school, and bring $ to pay for the space rental and arrange rides... what a great, dedicated group of girls we have! Thank you to Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Bouma, Mrs. McKendree, Mrs. Baran, Mrs. Rozema, Mrs. Pritchett, and Mrs. Gordey for driving the carpool of girls down to state... and to Mrs. Weber for also volunteering to help if we needed more! It was a long, rainy ride... but we made it! Thanks for stopping to eat with us at That 50's place for lunch on our way, too! I think the girls had fun!!
Thank you to the parents that made posters, took pictures, and were fans in the stands. We really appreciated your support, and you making the drive to cheer them on at state! Thank you to Mrs. Weber for helping to coordinate those plaque pictures. The rules said IESA requires each team to take a picture, but then the photographer was saying he wouldn't take it without 4 orders... and Mrs. Weber coordinated it all for us! We live and we learn now that we know it's not really required... but thanks for stepping up when asked! Thanks to Mrs. Clark for bringing a first aid kit for us just in case. Thank you to our injured cheerleaders who came to competition and gave great feedback, and then became cheerleaders for the cheerleaders at competition time! What positive, unselfish, and supportive attitudes were shown by Sarah Meyer, Abby Baran, Rachel Sprague, and Kayla McKendree! Thank you to so many parents for taking the ride down on Saturday to join us and watch the girls at show time... it was a long day, and the girls loved having you all there! I bought a copy of the state DVD, and can lend it out to anyone that wasn't able to see it! Just let me know if you'd like to borrow it, and I'd be happy to share!
Cheer Calendar Updates
4:00 Boys Home Game (vs. Conrady Hickory Hills)
The boys are coming off of a HUGE win this weekend over Burr Ridge Middle School and winning the Westmont Tournament last night! Girls should wear WHATEVER they want to school (we don't have to match this time)... but they should pack their whole uniform including cheer briefs, bow, and cheer shoes. They should also wear low white ankle socks. Some girls said they lost their spankies so they have just been wearing regular underwear during the games... so you if parents could check to make sure their daughters have some royal blue cheer briefs (or even royal blue short nike pro's could work). Nike Pro's are probably more expensive, and the cheer briefs can be found here: http://www.omnicheer.com/Body-Basics/Cheerleading-Briefs/Soffe-Low-Rise-Cheer-Briefs.axd for $2.97 in Royal. I just know they do a lot of jumps and tumbling and I would prefer that the girls wear something blue under their skirts over their underwear. I imagine most parents would prefer that as well. :) I think someone's bow broke (and someone else lost theirs)... you can order more here if needed for $5.95: http://www.omnicheer.com/Hair-Bows-Ribbons/Jumbo-Cheerleading-Bows/Metallic-Rhinestone-Jumbo-Zebra-Print-Hair-Bow.axd and probably get them in time for the competition on 2/1. Varsity cheerleaders should meet in my room at 3:35 to stretch and warm up before the game!
Tuesday, January 14th
Varsity Practice 3:35-5:10. Girls don't need to bring workout clothes this day... we are just going to meet at 3:35 in my classroom and review things from state. We're going to make a list of things we love, review some things the girls might want to do differently... and make a plan for making some small changes based on the judge's feedback and what the team thinks/wants. We will not do any physical stunting or tumbling... so they can just wear whatever they wear to school to practice.
Wednesday, January 15th
Practice 3:30-5:10. This is our only real practice this week, so we'll just get started on making any little changes to the end of the routine, and we'll have to all work together. I think the most probable change will be the dance/music in the second half of the routine. I would think that the first half and all of the cheer will not change at all, but I'll see what the team has to say at practice tomorrow. We will not do any tumbling at this practice, but will likely stunt for a portion of the practice.
Thursday, January 16th
First girls home game! The girls basketball team will play their home opener vs. Burr Ridge Middle School at 4:00pm. The game schedule will get a lot more intense in February, because now we need to cheer for all boys AND girls home games. All cheerleaders should wear their FULL UNIFORMS to school (including bows and cheer shoes) because it's the first home game for the girls team. They can wear PLAIN BLACK leggings or yoga crops under their skirts during the day if they'd like (during their classes). The JJH girls basketball team won the Westmont Tournament for the fourth year in a row yesterday... so it should be a great game!
Friday, January 17th
No practice! Happy Friday!
Monday, January 20th
No school... we have the north gym from 11-3 for practice to get ready for our February 1st competition at the JMS Cheer Blowout Competition in Villa Park. This practice has been on the calendar since October... so I am really expecting EVERYONE to be there on time and ready to work. This is the only day we'll have the full gym to practice before competition, so I want to make sure we can maximize that time by having everyone there on time and ready to work.
Tuesday, January 21st
4:00 girls home game vs. Westmont Junior High. We will decide what to wear to school that day when it gets a little closer.
Wednesday, January 22nd
Travel to Burr Ridge Middle School for the boys away game after school. 8th grade game is scheduled to start at 5:30pm. We will decide what to wear to school that day when it gets a little closer.
Thursday, January 23rd
Practice will be cancelled due to the National Junior Honor Society meeting after school. We can look at seeing if we can have a night practice this night if the girls are interested (or feel like they want extra gym time before the Villa Park competition). If girls need help from their teachers, this might be a great day to do so!
Friday, January 24th
Girls home game vs. Eisenhower Junior High School at 4:00. We will decide what to wear to school that day when it gets a little closer. The Weber family offered to host a team dinner at their house after the EJH game on the 24th... thank you! You should be getting e-mailed more details soon.
Sunday, January 26th
Cheer at the Mayor's Classic Tournament at Walker Athletics in Lisle. I will give you the game times as soon as I have them. We'll be cheering for the boys and girls teams. Last year, our girls team won this tournament, and the boys played a tough game and ended up second. I know we have a great chance at both teams winning this year, so it should be an exciting day!
Monday, January 27th
Practice from 3:35-5:10.
Tuesday, January 28th
Eisenhower Cheer Clinic was rescheduled for 1/28 (from when it was cancelled due to snow on 1/7). The girls will have a chance to work with cheerleaders from Hinsdale South High School. The school will provide buses after school to the clinic. They will wear black yoga pants, cheer shoes, and their white v-neck t-shirts with the stripes on the sleeves to the clinic. We will do high poofs and pony's on the bus ride over. Now that Grace has moved back to Arizona, we will need to recruit some more poof masters to practice so we can have a plan for who will be in charge of that for the Villa Park competition... we miss Grace already! We will also have bus rides back to Jefferson at the end of the clinic.
Wednesday, January 29th
Practice from 3:35-5:10pm.
Thursday, January 30th
Practice from 3:35-5:10pm.
Friday, January 31st
Practice from 3:35-5:10pm. The Villa Park competition will be the next day... please get a good night's sleep!!
Saturday, February 1st
Villa Park Cheer Competition! Performance times start at 11:30pm. I'll send out more information as it gets closer to competition time. Remember that the original calendar was one week off, and I sent a follow-up email that week... but the competition is NOT on 2/8 as originally stated. It will be on Saturday, February 1st at Jackson Middle School in Villa Park, IL.