Bluebird Corsage Clips

The Highlands High School cheerleaders bubble with excitement as they wait to see the corsages for this week’s home football game. They fill with joy as they see sparkles and little bluebird charms decorating their corsages. The cheerleaders cannot wait to wear the corsages and show their school spirit on the sidelines. 

The cheerleaders of Highlands High School during the 1974 school year continued the tradition of passing down the bluebird pin and corsage to younger girls who somewhat idolized them. Once each game finally came to an end, little girls would line the sidelines in hopes of receiving a corsage from the cheerleaders. These corsages were a tradition in the Highlands legacy, emphasizing their role at the school.

Each of the cheerleaders on the team looked forward to the corsages arriving from the local florist for the home football games. The corsages came decorated with little trinkets - just like the little bluebirds - which displayed school spirit. 

“I think Fort Thomas Florist always did the corsages, and they went anywhere from a glass bluebird, which was my all-time favorite, and I still have that glass bluebird,...then the other things were like a blue 'H', pipe cleaner 'H' in the middle of it.”

Eventually, the cheerleading team started to compete in competitions, which caused the tradition of wearing corsages as a sign of school spirit to fade.

“I think my daughters also had them (corsages), and they cheered from 2000 to 2006, but once competitions started and they were doing lifts and all those builds, those were not allowed (to wear corsages) anymore.”

All the people who have displayed school spirit during the football games - including the cheerleaders - have touched hearts and inspired younger generations of Highlands students. 

“I can remember standing on the sidelines and asking for my very first corsage from Lela Randall (class of 1967)… I actually saw her like a year ago and told her that, and she got tears in her eyes…”

This tradition has left a mark on so many people's lives. It’s a legacy that will always live within the students involved. The tradition had a way of bringing people together and making lifelong friendships and memories. 

 “It meant the world to me, and you could tell it meant the world to them. And it's really one of the things that I couldn’t wait to be a cheerleader for, not just being a part of tradition and supporting the school; supporting the school and everything, I just think that was one of the highlights of my life, honestly.”