“Give me a V!” Jazel Johnson ‘28 shouted over the roar of November’s homecoming game. Taking the cue from one of their team captains, the six girls standing behind her echoed the cry, breaking out into a diligently honed routine of claps and leaps, and inspiring much of the crowd to join in. This cheer team is the first to exist in the three hundred and twenty seven year history of Abington Friends School, and homecoming marked their first performance.
Although the team’s public debut occurred only a few weeks ago, the rigorous process of its development dates back to October of this year – when Johnson, along with her close friends Ianka Salas ‘28, Calysta Salas ‘27, and Isabella Stitt ‘28 decided to transform their lunch period pastime into a new pillar of school history.
Johnson said “We started doing stunts outside…we were like, ‘We should really…take this serious.’”
Shortly after, announcements about cheer practice started appearing at morning assembly. However, these early practices were marred by challenges such as lack of complete approval from administration – partially due to a lack of adult supervision – and subpar organization.
Stitt said, “I think the team’s biggest obstacle is the fact that this was a last minute idea and there is a lot of unsolved logistical things that still need to be solved.”
The issue of adult supervision has since been solved by the addition of Kandace Armstrong as coach. Armstrong (also known as “Miss Kandy”) originally joined the Abington Friends School community as a choreographer for the school productions of The Wiz and Urinetown.
One enduring challenge facing the team is the acquisition of uniforms, which the athletics department is not able to fund in whole. After weeks of anxiously brainstorming fundraising strategies, the cheer team has elected to raise the money via bake sales – the first of which took place on Monday, December 9.
Johnson said that her biggest goal for the cheer team is that it be “continued throughout the years”,
Stitt said; “I want the school to know that everyone on the team is very committed and it’s a great environment and good opportunity to get roopacs.”.
If you want to support the school’s first ever cheer team, buy a sweet treat at one of the team bake sales or get ready to see the team’s latest routines debuted live at their next performance on January 3, 2025.
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