By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A school can never have too much team spirit. In an effort to increase that spirit and overall student participation, Hoisington Middle School Assistant Principal Nick Flowers pitched the return of cheerleading at the school to the USD 431 Board of Education during Monday's meeting.
"Ultimately, we have a large group of students who have shown an interest in the return of middle school cheer," he told the board. "From what I am sensing, we do have a group of them who do not do fall sports, and a group that doesn't do winter sports, so it would raise participation in the seventh and eighth grades. Because there is an interest, I am absolutely open to the idea of it just because I'm always about getting our students more involved."
The board will revisit the issue at its January meeting, but Monday's proposal included a cap of 20 cheerleaders who may just wear shorts and a t-shirt as a uniform. Flowers outlined a potential tryout process, and said without polling, at least a dozen sixth graders have expressed interest in participating next year.
The board did express some concerns about who would sponsor the sport, or if a cap of 20 cheerleaders is too high. Board President Becky Mooney sponsored the last group of cheerleaders at HMS and said she likes the idea of the sport returning.
"I definitely think it's a good building experience for these girls," she said. "It also prepares them for high school. I got so many comments from the high school. These girls were ready when they went to tryouts there. They knew what to expect. I definitely think it's a good program, and it would definitely be nice to have that back in the middle school. I think we maybe just need to tweak it a little bit."
Flowers agreed to revisit his proposal to address some of the concerns ahead of the January meeting.