Cheer Squad fundraise to attend Nationals in Orlando

For the first time in Cincinnati Public School history, the WHHS Cheer Squad will be attending nationals on Feb. 10 and 11 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Cheer coach E’Lyse Hill is coaching her third year at WHHS and has been preparing for this moment. Hill has always believed in this particular group because, “they are very self motivating and always look to perfect the task at hand,” Hill said.

Prior to attending nationals the cheer squad is putting in extra work and practices to prepare for this event. The cheerleaders are fundraising in multiple ways in order to first make it to Florida in February. They are having taco Tuesdays where they have tacos on sale during all three lunches; two tacos for four dollars. The cheerleaders are also selling chocolate bars for a dollar during school and at competitions to help reach their goal.

According to Hill, fundraising is going very well. The cheer team is about 3,000 dollars from their goal.

Not only are the cheerleaders raising all their money on their own, they are also putting in extra time and practice to make sure they perform their best at nationals. They are practicing four hours on the weekends and adding three-to-four hour practices during the week.

The cheerleaders hope to have an increase in support during February to ramp them up for nationals. A competition is being held before nationals on Feb. 3, starting with a dance at 10 a.m. and the competition at 1 p.m. in the WHHS senior high gym.

“We need everyone’s support. We are judged on crowd effectiveness and that’s where the fans come into play. We need the gym packed with blue and gold shouting with us,” Hill said. Signs will be provided at this competition to help with the routine, and wearing a WHHS shirt will get you free admission. Also the cheerleaders will be walking around at this competition with boxes of candy to help with the fundraising goal to attend nationals.