by Jesus Sandoval
For the past few years school spirit has started to die down here at Ouray School. For the basketball season we needed a boost of energy, so a group of girls decided to bring back the cheerleading team. It has been almost three years since the school has had cheer. During Covid, it was hard to show fan support for our basketball team when everyone had to watch virtually. Now, it is back and better than ever.
This new cheer group is small - only three girls - but filled with energy and excitement. Sophomore Lis Ray believes that “we are making a impact” at Ouray School with their school spirit. She also believes that bringing back cheer is good for the “older generation fans remembering the cheer when they were at Ouray.'' With the upcoming middle school classes being so large, she is also excited to have a larger cheer group for the years to come.
Junior Lily Feeser has had experience being a cheerleader. When she was little she used to be a cheerleader but “stopped because there was not a cheer team anymore.” Lily loves being a part of the cheer team and loves all the fan support she has been receiving, with people telling her she “is brave, and they are so glad [she] is helping bring back cheer.” Lily wanted to start a cheer team again because “there are no girls sports and it gives them something to do.” It also gives Lily, who studies dance at Weehawken, more time to dance.
Art teacher Melissa Demuth is the cheerleading coach. She never had experience in cheerleading but has been a dancer since the age of two. She finds coaching this team a “joy because they are so enthusiastic.” Ms. Demuth was also the head coach for the middle school girls cheer team. She is excited for the future of cheerleading at Ouray because she coached 16 middle school girls. Before that there has not been a cheer team in the middle school for over ten years, she claimed. She is “very excited to keep this tradition going and to have a bigger squad to do more stunts and dances.” Ms. Demuth is looking forward to the future of the cheer team and hopes that they can start participating in competitions.
School spirit is returning to Ouray with the new cheer team. The cheer team gets the fans together to let the basketball teams know that they have their support, and with a larger group coming in the upcoming years, our spirit is on the rise. Having the cheerleaders this season “was cool,” said junior basketball player Ethan Wood. Added junior Roman Sackman, “That was actually really helpful.”