Cheerleading - Just In Time

It all happened in the summer of 2001 on a Monday night in the cheerleading field. Many people gathered at the field to watch the cheerleading competition. We were on in 5 minutes for the competition. The cheer we were going to do was called "Rock Steady." When it was our turn our co-captain, Paige, was not with us. She was missing. I felt scared because we had practiced so hard and we couldn't do the cheer without her.

I have been cheering for three years now. My friends, Paige, Emily and Chelsea, and I enjoy cheering. We make new cheers every week. Our best cheers are "Rock Steady" and "Dynamite." When we do Rock Steady we are lined up in a straight line. We go from left to right while saying the cheer. Dynamite is similar to Rock Steady but you do not stand in a straight line; you are separated.We were really hoping that we would win. Emily and Chelsea felt disappointed, too. Where could Paige be?

We looked everywhere but we could not find her. We looked in the crowds for her pink uniform but we could not find her. There was a concession stand that sold hot dogs and drinks. Maybe she's there?

Emily said, "Maybe she got nervous and hid behind the stand to practice.''

Chelsea said, "You know, she could have broken something and someone could have picked her up and taken her to the hospital."

I said, "Maybe she ran home to get something she left there."

We only had one more minute to find her. Just then we got called up by the man who said, "Next up, the Bobcats!" We all said, "Oh no! what are we going to do?" We had to start the cheer. But then we saw her running across the field. We asked her where she had been. She said. "I was getting a hot dog at the concession stand but the ladies ran out and had to cook more. I am sorry I am late." We asked her if she still wanted to do the cheer and she said she did.

It was our turn to show the judges our best cheer. Every thing went smoothly as we were doing the cheer. When we were finished the cheer the judges made their decision. The announcer said, "The winner of the 2001 cheerleading competition are the Bobcats!" We all jumped up and cheered. We walked proudly to the middle of the field to get our huge trophies. We celebrated by going to Paige's house where we ate ice cream and had a victory party.

Patti Weeg
patti@globalclassroom.org

May 8, 2003