The Highlands Cheerleading Squad

The Highlands Golden Rams Cheerleading squad has multiplied into a flock. There are 66 girls cheering for Rams' teams, seventh through twelfth, so many that there are two shepherdesses overseeing all of the Golden Herd. Virgina Heasley (who has been varsity coach for five years) and Sharon Conway (who coached the freshman squad last year) are both responsible for the cheerleading program at Highlands this year. The turnout for the cheerleading squads this year was plentiful, and with the long wrestling and basketball seasons just around the corner that require cheerleaders virtually every night of the week, adding another coach and splitting the varsity into two groups was an obvious solution. The varsity cheerleaders consist of 31 girls and are divided into two squads, the brown and the gold. The Brown Squad, 16 girls strong, is chiefly a team who contend in competitive events on behalf of the school. The Brown Squad is led by Heasley, and is captained by Kia Skornickle. Conway is at the helm of the Gold Squad with its complement of 15 girls, who in large part cheer at the school functions and many pep rallies. Co-Captains Kristen Nasser and Kristen Sandoval serve the Gold Squad. The two groups splitting the responsibilities and performances through the year also free up the cheerleaders to carry out other things like community service.

Virginia Heasley says "Lots of our cheerleaders are elementary tutors after school for 45 more minutes, as big sisters. They give a little reinforcement at the elementary level. It has really worked out well." The cheerleaders also go to the elementary schools right before PSSA testing and put on pep rallies to get the kids started on a positive note. Some cheers have even included items that the students have to know for the test, in order to help make it easier for students to remember. Heasley, a teacher in Highlands' instructional support for Kindergarten through Fifth grades, has been very pleased with the level and quality of service by the squads. The other coach, Sharon Conway, agrees. "We have a really good squad. We all get along, and they make it a lot easier… They listen and ask for my help."

Both coaches have a similar team philosophy and outlook. For cheerleaders who may have to keep cheering when their team is losing, learning how to maintain a positive attitude is important. They try to end each practice with a 'Positive Word of the Day", and they keep all of the different words and every so often look back at the list. And a heavy emphasis is placed on teamwork to build on each others' strengths and cover for any weak points.

Heasley and Conway are serious about their program, and continuously endeavor to stretch and grow the sport. "We are considered an activity," Heasley notes, "but we all consider it a sport, due to the time, effort, practice, and ability [involved] to be cheerleaders." Conway says, "They've expanded [cheerleading] so much since my day-- they have to have so much more athletic ability than in my day when we had to just do a basic cartwheel."

But that's ok. These Golden Rams cheerleaders are up to the task.