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American School Spirit Award
On December 8th, UCA started a countdown of the top ten winners for the American School Spirit Award. By Friday, December 12, we were able to narrow down the group to the top three, Pleasant Valley High School, Hinsdale Central High School, and Hanford High School. After looking through many entries, Pleasant Valley was chosen as the American School Spirit Award Winner for 2008!
Pleasant Valley received this award because of the outstanding dedication to their school and community. Each year this squad sets a goal, and this year their goal was to promote spirit and sportsmanship on and off the field and to maintain a positive connection between their school and community through a variety of volunteer activities throughout the year. They also vowed to create opportunities for children and adults to share in the spirit, pride and accomplishments of our high school students, and to achieve the highest level of athleticism in our sport—all while holding high academic standards.
Pleasant Valley submitted a binder of all the activities they completed. Two of the things that really stood out to the judges were their Pay it Forward program and their commitment to volunteer after a tragedy hit Iowa.
Pay it Forward was an act based on the movie “Pay it Forward,” and it follows a similar concept. Each week, the cheerleaders perform several acts of kindness and encourage students and teachers to “pay it forward,” by performing their own acts of kindness. They even passed out cards and bracelets to remind students to pass on the sincerity.
Over the summer, tragedy struck Iowa when a tornado passed through and killed four Boy Scouts seeking shelter at a camp. The story devastated the squad, so they set up a fund to build a storm shelter at the camp. Together, the team raised over $5,700 for the fund!
Along with many other activities, Pleasant Valley showed they fully deserved this award. As part of their award, they were flown down to the 2009 National High School Cheerleading Championships to accept the honor in person. Below are some pictures from this event.
To read more about Pleasant Valley team or to see the other finalist click here!
Once a year the NFHS and UCA picks a coach of the year. This year Jeff Webb presented Patsy Hendricks with the Coach of the Year plaque at the NHSCC. Patsy is a highly regarded coach in South Dakota and has won many coaching award. Patsy has been a cheerleading coach for 17 years, is a AACCA Safety Certifier and member of the NFHS Spirit Rules Committee. Check out pictures of her below!
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