GAME DAY 2018
It's Game Day in Houston County, GA! Read about the teams and groups that make football an exciting time for everyone.
It's Game Day in Houston County, GA! Read about the teams and groups that make football an exciting time for everyone.
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W<br />
It all begins with P.E.R.R.Y. -<br />
Perseverance, Enthusiasm,<br />
Repetition, Relationship, and You<br />
Story by CHRISTINE HAWLEY<br />
Head cheerleading coach Ciara<br />
Northern describes Perry High<br />
School as “a school with a small<br />
hometown feel. Everyone is<br />
like family and a lot of times<br />
you are actually related.” As for<br />
her cheer squad family, she<br />
explained that each of the three<br />
squads (competition, football,<br />
and basketball, all varsity) “is<br />
dynamic. We take different<br />
girls and guys from all different<br />
backgrounds and it all comes<br />
together to make us what we<br />
are. Perry is a small town, so we<br />
are all connected and we form<br />
this family with a bond that<br />
can’t be broken.” She concluded<br />
with the squad’s theme, “After<br />
all, it all begins with P.E.R.R.Y.!<br />
(Perseverance, Enthusiasm,<br />
Repetition, Relationship, and<br />
You).”<br />
Northern, who has coached<br />
cheerleading for a total of 10<br />
years, teaches ninth and 10th<br />
grade history and this is her<br />
fourth year teaching at the<br />
school. Alongside her is assistant<br />
coach Loreal Jordan, a sixth<br />
grade social studies teacher at<br />
Northside Middle School with<br />
a total of nine years of cheer<br />
coaching experience. This<br />
year’s squads are comprised of<br />
20 members in competition,<br />
31 in football, and 20 in<br />
basketball. Captains include<br />
Jorja Chestnut and Abigail<br />
Tarrer for competition, Keiosha<br />
Ellis, Lauren Norwood, Hayley<br />
Karros, Mikaila Brown, and<br />
Kyeonna Thomas for football,<br />
and basketball captain(s) will be<br />
chosen in October.<br />
The teams will participate in<br />
five competitions this season,<br />
plus region and state, with full<br />
routines that involve “moving<br />
stunts and lots of tumbling,”<br />
according to Northern. She<br />
explained the football and<br />
basketball squads’ goals are<br />
“to always look and perform<br />
our best. We also hope to make<br />
our mark this year at the spirit<br />
competition in Macon. For<br />
competition, we hope to take<br />
back our region title and make<br />
top six at state.”<br />
The squads practice every day,<br />
Monday through Friday, and<br />
Northern stated their mission<br />
this year “is to be the best we<br />
can be because we can’t ask for<br />
more than that. If we remember,<br />
it all begins with P.E.R.R.Y., we<br />
should be successful at achieving<br />
our mission and our goals.” If<br />
one of your goals is to become<br />
a member of the Perry High<br />
School cheer squad, some of the<br />
requirements include tumbling<br />
skills and stunts, in addition<br />
to a good attitude and great<br />
teacher recommendations, and<br />
for football and basketball, they<br />
assess motion, technique, jumps,<br />
and spirit.<br />
In giving back to the community,<br />
they have donated to Saint<br />
Jude, participated in breast<br />
cancer awareness, reading to<br />
children, and many more. As for<br />
accolades, Northern would like<br />
to recognize “all of my seniors<br />
because they are the first group<br />
of freshman I started with.<br />
This year is bittersweet. Saying<br />
goodbye is going to be hard but<br />
I am so proud to see what comes<br />
next for them.”<br />
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