When school started up again, so did sports and activities. One of the sports getting into gear is the cheer team. This year, while students are easing into things, there are a lot of changes due to Covid. Serenity, 10th grade, said, “This year, there are a lot fewer girls, and having to practice with the basketball girls is very different. It allows us to learn the cheers quickly and (it’s) less stressful.”

To add on about practicing situations, Grayce, 10th grade, said, “This year has been a different environment considering Covid. Practices run a lot differently including how we’re not practicing for pep rally, consistently keeping a distance the entire time, and wearing a mask.“

One major thing change is that the junior varsity games had been moved to Wednesday, and the varsity games have been moved to Thursday and Friday. Morgan, 10th grade, said, “I think having the games on Wednesday is good, so we aren’t trying to do homework due on Friday last minute.” Although cheer leading takes place outside, cheerleaders are required to wear a mask when not preforming a cheer. While they are yelling and shouting the cheer, they can take them off.

Grayce said, “Masks and cheerleaders just do not mix well together in my opinion. With all our yelling and shouting, it doesn’t really make sense to wear them when we are not saying anything.” Emma, 10th grade, said, “I think the masks are unnecessary for us because we’re outdoors and we are all spaced out on the track anyways. Also, it could be very difficult to hear the captains calling out the cheers.” Coach Howell said, “The masks are a necessary evil.”