RHS Cheer team News, information, updates & More.
As coaches and parents ourselves, Jillian and I believe that the health of our cheer team does not lie with the team member’s
themselves but is also dependent on the support each receives from parents, family and friends as well. Understanding this, we believe that the strength of our team can only be as strong as the bonds that we form with each member’s family. Obviously communication will be a key element to maintaining that bond and since we understand first hand that teens are not always the best at informing parents of “whats” and “wheres”until last minute, we are hoping that this site will serve as a medium for communication, a resource for information, and through it will be able to better keep you updated as to what we have going on.
Please check our page frequently as you will find a calendar of upcoming RHS’s Cheer Team events, practices schedules, competition
information, permission/liability waivers, fundraising info, deadlines, and volunteer opportunities. Of course we will also post fun things as well, such as pictures, videos and your favorite RHS Cheer Team stats.
We look forward to working with you throughout this upcoming season and thank you in advance for all your support!
~ Stephanie & Jillian
themselves but is also dependent on the support each receives from parents, family and friends as well. Understanding this, we believe that the strength of our team can only be as strong as the bonds that we form with each member’s family. Obviously communication will be a key element to maintaining that bond and since we understand first hand that teens are not always the best at informing parents of “whats” and “wheres”until last minute, we are hoping that this site will serve as a medium for communication, a resource for information, and through it will be able to better keep you updated as to what we have going on.
Please check our page frequently as you will find a calendar of upcoming RHS’s Cheer Team events, practices schedules, competition
information, permission/liability waivers, fundraising info, deadlines, and volunteer opportunities. Of course we will also post fun things as well, such as pictures, videos and your favorite RHS Cheer Team stats.
We look forward to working with you throughout this upcoming season and thank you in advance for all your support!
~ Stephanie & Jillian
2-7-2013 : ***COMPETITION CANCELLED***
Unfortunately we will NOT be attending this weekend's competition, the Green Bay Classic on Feb. 9th. Due to the illness that has ravished the team throughout the past week, it is just not feesible for us to go. I would rather the team rest, recover and reconvene next week to start preparing for the WACPC Regional Competition in Wisconsin Rapids on the 16th. If they place in the top 3, they will win a bid to the State Championship the following weekend in Madison.
Also, if there is ANY way that you or your family can come to support the team at one of the upcoming competitions, that would be amazing!! At the last competition in Wisconsin Dells, we competed against a number of teams, and every one of them had hoards of supporters in the stands. In fact, if I were to estimate, I would say that Grafton had at least 70 people in the stands wearing their school colors, hooting and hollaring and beating cow bells to cheer their team on (which does add to their score because they were able to get the crowd involved). To date, we haven't had any of the parents, students, friends or family come to our competitions and it would be a great way to show your support and appreciation for all the hard work your children are doing in practice. Please check our schedule page for upcoming performances, we would LOVE to see you there dressed in blue and white with your loudest noise makers. I know we are small, but "We are LOUD and STRONG and here to make you PROUD!"
1-15-2013 : A NOTE TO PARENTS
As we look back on the past notes to parents and our "thoughts" of how this season would proceed, like could prepare us for the rollercoaster of a ride that it would be. What we can say is that the 5 members who remain: Colt, Kayla, Gio, Emily and Essence are a resilient bunch and if this season is any indication of how they will proceed in their lives outside of school, they will be unstoppable!! We simply could not be any more proud of this group if they won every competition for here on out because what they have accomplished and endured surpasses any trophy that would be sitting in the Cheer Display case in the commons!
With that said, we have a few updates for you:
Head CheerLeaders Chosen for the 2012-2013 Season: CONGRADULATIONS to Gio and Kayla!!!
Jackets: As you may already know, we have created a logo for the RHS Rams Cheer Team that will be embroidered and embellished with rhinestones on the back of the cheer jackets. Please look for a waiver form that will be coming home with your child as this will need to be signed in our to have these jackets professionally designed.
Competitions: OH BOY are we going to be busy. Please check the "schedule" tab for a complete listing of our upcoming performances and competitions. You will be receiving additional information and liability waivers for these upcoming dates. In addition, please note that we will be spending several nights away in order to attend these competitions, i.e. Jan. 26-27, Feb. 23-24, and April 11-14. We will provide you with complete details and itineraries for these events.
Our final competition of the 2012-2013 season we will be traveling to the Nation's Choice Cheer & Dance Championship in Sandusky, OH. Please make sure to look for the information packet that will be coming home with your child and start passing the word about their attendance at this competition. What is unique about this particular event is that the performances will be broadcast online and voting/placement will be based on viewer call-in votes. So enlist your family and get them ready to vote for their favorite cheer team, RHS Rams of course!!!
Statement and Accounts Due: You will be receiving these within the next week. Please note that we are dependent on your repayment in order to attend these upcoming events. We have taken great care to ensure that the cost for your child's participation in Cheer Team is minimal for you, so please be considerate of us and return this payment as soon as possible.
Fundraiser: We will need to do at least one more fundraiser before we depart for the final competition in Sandusky, OH. Any thoughts on this?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As we look back on the past notes to parents and our "thoughts" of how this season would proceed, like could prepare us for the rollercoaster of a ride that it would be. What we can say is that the 5 members who remain: Colt, Kayla, Gio, Emily and Essence are a resilient bunch and if this season is any indication of how they will proceed in their lives outside of school, they will be unstoppable!! We simply could not be any more proud of this group if they won every competition for here on out because what they have accomplished and endured surpasses any trophy that would be sitting in the Cheer Display case in the commons!
With that said, we have a few updates for you:
Head CheerLeaders Chosen for the 2012-2013 Season: CONGRADULATIONS to Gio and Kayla!!!
Jackets: As you may already know, we have created a logo for the RHS Rams Cheer Team that will be embroidered and embellished with rhinestones on the back of the cheer jackets. Please look for a waiver form that will be coming home with your child as this will need to be signed in our to have these jackets professionally designed.
Competitions: OH BOY are we going to be busy. Please check the "schedule" tab for a complete listing of our upcoming performances and competitions. You will be receiving additional information and liability waivers for these upcoming dates. In addition, please note that we will be spending several nights away in order to attend these competitions, i.e. Jan. 26-27, Feb. 23-24, and April 11-14. We will provide you with complete details and itineraries for these events.
Our final competition of the 2012-2013 season we will be traveling to the Nation's Choice Cheer & Dance Championship in Sandusky, OH. Please make sure to look for the information packet that will be coming home with your child and start passing the word about their attendance at this competition. What is unique about this particular event is that the performances will be broadcast online and voting/placement will be based on viewer call-in votes. So enlist your family and get them ready to vote for their favorite cheer team, RHS Rams of course!!!
Statement and Accounts Due: You will be receiving these within the next week. Please note that we are dependent on your repayment in order to attend these upcoming events. We have taken great care to ensure that the cost for your child's participation in Cheer Team is minimal for you, so please be considerate of us and return this payment as soon as possible.
Fundraiser: We will need to do at least one more fundraiser before we depart for the final competition in Sandusky, OH. Any thoughts on this?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12-04-2012 : A NOTE TO PARENTS
WOW! What a tumultuous, exhausting few weeks it has been! We cannot thank you, the parents, enough for bearing with us through these long days; the early morning practices; the late nights at games; while also dealing with your exhausted children; attempting to help them with their fundraising efforts; and their homework too. We understand that this has been a hard, rough start for you as well. But we can ensure you that it will get easier and the rest of the season will not be this taxing and can tell you that alot has been accomplished in a very short time, the team has REALLY worked hard and we, as coaches, are incredibly proud of all their progress!
Warm-Ups, Shoes & Undergarments. Hurray, we received these yesterday, thankfully in time for competition. We chose to purchase them without the embroidery because it would have taken 4 weeks for them to get to us if the retail company had to do this. Instead we will be getting them embroidered by Uselding’s in Port Washington after we attend the Raider Classic Competition on Sat, Dec. 8, 2012.
To reiterate that which was stated in the Handbook, you are responsible for the purchase of these warm-ups, shoes, and undergarments (body suits & bloomers). Because these items needed to be expedited, we did have to pay extra for shipping and that cost will be evenly dispersed amongst those who ordered. We do understand that money is tight for many of our Cheer families and in an effort to help reduce this cost; we have decided that ½ of the proceeds from their individual Kringle sales will be credited to the bill for their orders. That means, for every Kringle sold after their first (the proceeds of the 1st Kringle will need to be applied to the delivery charge for these on Dec. 14th), your child will receive a credit of $1.50 per Kringle toward the cost of their Cheer attire. This is the 1st year that anything like this has been done and we do hope that you take advantage of this opportunity to reduce the overall cost of participating in Cheerleading.
Please note that we will be supplying you with individually itemized bills sometime during the next week; checks should be made to "Random Lake Cheer Team."
Fundraising. Please know that the RHS Cheer team is mainly funded through fundraising endeavors. The RHS Team is solely responsible for the paying all competition entry fees, transportation, lodging, cheer supplies, and special coach fees (choreographers, gymnastics/tumbling coaches, et.) Therefore in order to have a successful, safe, and involved team; we are
responsible for raising a multitude of funds. Throughout the year there will be many opportunities for your child to assist in raising these funds. In the months of November and December, the RHS Cheer Team will be selling Kringles (please help
if you can, take these to work, reach out to family members, et), selling candy canes with special messages to the student body, holding 50/50 raffles at the basketball games, and several members of the RHS Team are in process of designing and making their own line of RHS Cheer Clothing. Any assistance that you would be willing to provide with these sales would benefit your child and their team immensely. Please let us know what you can and are willing to do to help the team have their most successful year yet.
Kringle Sales. As a reminder, these sales close and need to be turned in, with all the money, by Thursday, Dec. 6th which only leaves 2 more selling days. Remember you will receive a credit of $1.50 for every Kringle sold! Pick up date for these
Kringles is Dec. 14th, you MUST pick these up on the 14th as they need to be kept frozen. We do not have a place to store them!
Competitions. You will notice on the calendar that we have a number of competitions coming up. Aside from the Dec. 8th competition, we made sure not to sign up for any during December as we know this is a busy time for all families. Please know that it is crucial that your child be at these competitions as the routines are dependent on every member of the team being there. If your child is not there, the team cannot perform. So please, please make sure that they are!
Raider Classic in Wisconsin Rapids, in Dec. 8th. We perform at 10:40am, but need to be there by 10:00 for a Coaches' meeting and between 9-10 in order to get some "floor time" on the spring mat. Considering that we will need time to do make-up, hair, and run through the routine at least once; we will be leaving the school at 7:00am. At this time we do not know when the awards ceremonies will take place, therefore we cannot give you a return time. You are more than welcome to attend the competition, in fact we heavily encourage it, and the team needs your support!!
In the next few days your child will receive a “checklist” of things they MUST bring with them to the competition, it is essential that they have ALL of their items with them!! Also, you may want to send them with some spending money
as I am sure that they will want to purchase food, drinks, or commemorative apparel that will be sold at the event.
** Also, please note that we will always ride together, as a team, to the event. We will need to take 2 school vans in order to transport everyone so if you are willing to drive a school van, please let us know so we can get you approved for this.
Spirit Leader of the Week. When will your child be the spirit leader of the week and what is that?
We have appointed a Spirit Leader for each week of this session; we have noted the Spirit Leader for each week on the
calendar and will also list below. As the spirit leader, they will be responsible for calling out the warm-up routine each practice; deciding the game cheers and starting those; they will make a locker signs for each of their teammates and attach to their lockers on Monday; will choose and post a quote on their RHS Rams Cheer Team Facebook page; and should bring a snack to at least one practice day (more than one day would be spectacular, but at least one).
RHS Rams Cheer Team Facebook Page. Just so that you are aware, all of the team members belong to a private facebook group. Within this group, they will always have access to the Coaches and other members to ask questions or obtain info. Additionally, they will have game schedules, locker sign examples, videos of cheers so they can learn at home, and we will also post practice videos there so they can critique their performances and also have access to this for any projects they might do for other’s as a spirit leader.
We share this info with you so that if you have any questions, concerns, or need any information regarding the team events (that is not otherwise listed here); ask your child as they should have all this info available to them via facebook.
RHS Cheer Christmas Party – December 21. We will be having our Christmas party on the 21st of December. The team has exchanged names and will be participating in a “Secret Santa” gift exchange. Party details will be sent out soon. Please note that you are more than welcome to join us, as once again we heavily encourage you to be a part of our extended RHS Cheer team.
Nutrition. We have talked extensively with the team about the importance of eating before practice and games. We agree that practice and game days can be very physically and mentally exhausting; that coupled with the length of time that they might be at school, it is important to make sure that your child has food available to them. Granola bars, pop tarts, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, et. can be thrown into their cheer bags or lockers and would be a great source of protein and nutrition. While we have talked at great length with your child about the importance of healthy eating, we ask that you also take the time to do this. We have overheard some of the girls discussing their desires to “fast” and “starve themselves skinny” since becoming Cheerleaders, this practice is not only unhealthy and damaging to their developing systems, but also poses a real danger to themselves and others on the cheer mat. A hungry teen can pass out, lose strength, or “zone out,” mid-routine and hurt themselves or others. As such, if we find out that your child is engaging in “starving” behaviors, we will have to remove them from the team.
Questions or Concerns? Again, feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns; we would be more than willing to assist you.
WOW! What a tumultuous, exhausting few weeks it has been! We cannot thank you, the parents, enough for bearing with us through these long days; the early morning practices; the late nights at games; while also dealing with your exhausted children; attempting to help them with their fundraising efforts; and their homework too. We understand that this has been a hard, rough start for you as well. But we can ensure you that it will get easier and the rest of the season will not be this taxing and can tell you that alot has been accomplished in a very short time, the team has REALLY worked hard and we, as coaches, are incredibly proud of all their progress!
Warm-Ups, Shoes & Undergarments. Hurray, we received these yesterday, thankfully in time for competition. We chose to purchase them without the embroidery because it would have taken 4 weeks for them to get to us if the retail company had to do this. Instead we will be getting them embroidered by Uselding’s in Port Washington after we attend the Raider Classic Competition on Sat, Dec. 8, 2012.
To reiterate that which was stated in the Handbook, you are responsible for the purchase of these warm-ups, shoes, and undergarments (body suits & bloomers). Because these items needed to be expedited, we did have to pay extra for shipping and that cost will be evenly dispersed amongst those who ordered. We do understand that money is tight for many of our Cheer families and in an effort to help reduce this cost; we have decided that ½ of the proceeds from their individual Kringle sales will be credited to the bill for their orders. That means, for every Kringle sold after their first (the proceeds of the 1st Kringle will need to be applied to the delivery charge for these on Dec. 14th), your child will receive a credit of $1.50 per Kringle toward the cost of their Cheer attire. This is the 1st year that anything like this has been done and we do hope that you take advantage of this opportunity to reduce the overall cost of participating in Cheerleading.
Please note that we will be supplying you with individually itemized bills sometime during the next week; checks should be made to "Random Lake Cheer Team."
Fundraising. Please know that the RHS Cheer team is mainly funded through fundraising endeavors. The RHS Team is solely responsible for the paying all competition entry fees, transportation, lodging, cheer supplies, and special coach fees (choreographers, gymnastics/tumbling coaches, et.) Therefore in order to have a successful, safe, and involved team; we are
responsible for raising a multitude of funds. Throughout the year there will be many opportunities for your child to assist in raising these funds. In the months of November and December, the RHS Cheer Team will be selling Kringles (please help
if you can, take these to work, reach out to family members, et), selling candy canes with special messages to the student body, holding 50/50 raffles at the basketball games, and several members of the RHS Team are in process of designing and making their own line of RHS Cheer Clothing. Any assistance that you would be willing to provide with these sales would benefit your child and their team immensely. Please let us know what you can and are willing to do to help the team have their most successful year yet.
Kringle Sales. As a reminder, these sales close and need to be turned in, with all the money, by Thursday, Dec. 6th which only leaves 2 more selling days. Remember you will receive a credit of $1.50 for every Kringle sold! Pick up date for these
Kringles is Dec. 14th, you MUST pick these up on the 14th as they need to be kept frozen. We do not have a place to store them!
Competitions. You will notice on the calendar that we have a number of competitions coming up. Aside from the Dec. 8th competition, we made sure not to sign up for any during December as we know this is a busy time for all families. Please know that it is crucial that your child be at these competitions as the routines are dependent on every member of the team being there. If your child is not there, the team cannot perform. So please, please make sure that they are!
Raider Classic in Wisconsin Rapids, in Dec. 8th. We perform at 10:40am, but need to be there by 10:00 for a Coaches' meeting and between 9-10 in order to get some "floor time" on the spring mat. Considering that we will need time to do make-up, hair, and run through the routine at least once; we will be leaving the school at 7:00am. At this time we do not know when the awards ceremonies will take place, therefore we cannot give you a return time. You are more than welcome to attend the competition, in fact we heavily encourage it, and the team needs your support!!
In the next few days your child will receive a “checklist” of things they MUST bring with them to the competition, it is essential that they have ALL of their items with them!! Also, you may want to send them with some spending money
as I am sure that they will want to purchase food, drinks, or commemorative apparel that will be sold at the event.
** Also, please note that we will always ride together, as a team, to the event. We will need to take 2 school vans in order to transport everyone so if you are willing to drive a school van, please let us know so we can get you approved for this.
Spirit Leader of the Week. When will your child be the spirit leader of the week and what is that?
We have appointed a Spirit Leader for each week of this session; we have noted the Spirit Leader for each week on the
calendar and will also list below. As the spirit leader, they will be responsible for calling out the warm-up routine each practice; deciding the game cheers and starting those; they will make a locker signs for each of their teammates and attach to their lockers on Monday; will choose and post a quote on their RHS Rams Cheer Team Facebook page; and should bring a snack to at least one practice day (more than one day would be spectacular, but at least one).
RHS Rams Cheer Team Facebook Page. Just so that you are aware, all of the team members belong to a private facebook group. Within this group, they will always have access to the Coaches and other members to ask questions or obtain info. Additionally, they will have game schedules, locker sign examples, videos of cheers so they can learn at home, and we will also post practice videos there so they can critique their performances and also have access to this for any projects they might do for other’s as a spirit leader.
We share this info with you so that if you have any questions, concerns, or need any information regarding the team events (that is not otherwise listed here); ask your child as they should have all this info available to them via facebook.
RHS Cheer Christmas Party – December 21. We will be having our Christmas party on the 21st of December. The team has exchanged names and will be participating in a “Secret Santa” gift exchange. Party details will be sent out soon. Please note that you are more than welcome to join us, as once again we heavily encourage you to be a part of our extended RHS Cheer team.
Nutrition. We have talked extensively with the team about the importance of eating before practice and games. We agree that practice and game days can be very physically and mentally exhausting; that coupled with the length of time that they might be at school, it is important to make sure that your child has food available to them. Granola bars, pop tarts, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, et. can be thrown into their cheer bags or lockers and would be a great source of protein and nutrition. While we have talked at great length with your child about the importance of healthy eating, we ask that you also take the time to do this. We have overheard some of the girls discussing their desires to “fast” and “starve themselves skinny” since becoming Cheerleaders, this practice is not only unhealthy and damaging to their developing systems, but also poses a real danger to themselves and others on the cheer mat. A hungry teen can pass out, lose strength, or “zone out,” mid-routine and hurt themselves or others. As such, if we find out that your child is engaging in “starving” behaviors, we will have to remove them from the team.
Questions or Concerns? Again, feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns; we would be more than willing to assist you.