Getting pumped up for the season: RHS cheerleaders ready to fire up crowd, give back to the community

Young or old, green and gold should be your favorite colors. You don’t need to be a student or parent at Redmond High School (RHS). The Mustangs are your hometown team and you’re more than welcome to make some joyful noise at the stadium atop Education Hill.

The 2009-10 RHS Cheer Squad is working hard to roll out a campus welcome mat, engage the whole community and give back through service.

“High school football games should be a fun family night,” stated new cheer coach Cyndi Campbell, the Becca specialist in the RHS attendance office. “Come watch the games, the cheerleaders, the band. Make it a real community event.”

The Mustang cheerleaders are “a good group of kids who work well together and are all excited about being leadership examples,” Campbell added.

Captains are RHS seniors Rachel Mullen, Sarah Weinold and Lauren Best. Along with some familiar faces, the squad of 18 girls and one boy includes both sophomores and seniors who’d never cheered until this past, action-packed summer.

In late June, RHS took third place among more than 20 cheerleading groups in the Seattle Seafair Rock and Roll Marathon. In July, they performed and did bike helmet fittings at Redmond Derby Days. July 28-Aug. 1, they attended a Universal Cheerleading Association camp at University of Puget Sound, where team member Jessie Follett was voted Camp Hero for her courageous comeback from a serious car accident. In late August, they presented an elementary cheer camp in cooperation with Redmond Parks and Recreation.

They’ll conduct another clinic for students in grades K-6 from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Sept. 19 at Redmond High School, 17272 NE 104th St. Cost is $35, including a souvenir, and participants will get to perform with the Mustang cheerleaders during halftime at the Redmond-Eastlake game at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.

Admission to that game is free for the young performers and $6 for adults and other family members.

Also on Sept. 19, the Mustang cheerleaders will sponsor a clothing drive for the Northwest Center. Bring your donations to the Big Blue Truck, which will be parked on the RHS campus.

As the school year continues, the RHS cheerleaders hope to join with other student athletes in a Letterman’s Club to complete service projects at the YWCA Family Village and elsewhere.

Going to a WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities Association) state event is also a goal, but according to Campbell, “role-modeling, going back to basics of cheerleading and supporting every athletic group at the school” are immediate priorities.

New this year, “we went back to traditional-looking football uniforms with sweaters, which the kids really like,” Campbell continued. “And we’ve learned all the band dances now. Last year, that tradition was missed.”

As well, the squad is striving to earn an academic achievement award, with all members maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or better. To that end, each cheer practice will include “mandatory study time, to make sure everyone’s on-track with grades, putting academics first. I thought there’d be grumbling, but the kids said, ‘Thank you!’,” Campbell noted.

So if you’ve watched too many movies portraying cheerleaders as shallow or dumb, put aside your preconceived notions, Campbell urged.

Contact Redmond Reporter Reporter Mary Stevens Decker at mdecker@redmond-reporter.com or (425) 867-0353, ext. 5052.

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