With homecoming week starting on Oct. 7, the cheer and dance teams are putting in the work to prepare performances for the pep rally and the homecoming football game that will spark school spirit amongst the student body. To increase Wakefield pride, additional elements have been added to help both teams, such as a new school mascot: Wade the Wolverine. Students are excited to see how these groups will bring the energy this year.
Nola Fulk, senior and co-captain of the dance team, has been on the team for three years, gaining different experiences throughout her time. For this year, she expresses her thoughts on the upcoming events.
“I just think this year is going to be fun,” Fulk said. “We are super excited to perform at [the] Pep Rally and just show everyone what we have been doing.”
Dance is a co-curricular activity, giving the girls the opportunity to practice both in class everyday and Wednesdays after-school for two hours to be able to properly prepare for their performances. This year is special for the dance team as they are incorporating both junior varsity and varsity in one team, giving it a new experience. Dance coach Shannon Proctor is looking forward to working with all of the girls.
“This year for the first time we are taking both the varsity and JV team because we have a lot of really good freshmen on the JV team,” Proctor said. “The JV coach and I met and said it would be great for the future of the team to combine both teams so they can experience it.”
For Sofia Colvin, a senior on the dance team, it is her first year performing with the girls. She has dived into getting as involved as she can to make her first and last year on the team one to remember.
“I’m helping with choreographing outside of class periods,” Colvin said. “I made the music [for the pep rally] and mixed the songs together. It’s very tame, but any sound effects you hear in the midst of the song, that’s me.”
Last year, a tradition embarked within the dance team with the captains and seniors putting the pep rally choreography together. This has carried over to the new school year to enable them to leave their mark.
“I normally hire a choreographer to come up with the choreography, but last year I [started to] let the students make up their own hip-hop routine and theme,” Proctor said. “I want it to be a more collaborative process for them because this is their last pep rally, so I want them to have a say in what they are doing.”
Meanwhile, the cheer team has been working tirelessly to perfect their routines for the pep rally and homecoming games, along with preparing for the rest of the season. Sheniya Williams, a senior and co-captain of the cheer team, expresses her enthusiasm for the coming season.
“I’m just looking forward to everyone putting their best foot forward, putting in 110 percent when we are all doing routines so that we can win and go to nationals,” Williams said.
The cheer team has some big goals for this season, hoping to perform well at States and Nationals. Last year, the team won second at States, leaving the team hungry for more. Cheer coach Kelly Stanicek discusses her team’s preparations for their various events this year.
“This year we’re going back to States and to nationals in Dallas, so we’re competing six times,” Stanicek said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready.”
Back at home, the cheerleaders look forward to football games where they get to display their hard work—supporting both their school and peers. For the upcoming pep rally and homecoming game, the cheer team is excited to receive a little extra help from the newest member of the Wakefield staff, Wade the Wolverine.
“He’s been coming to every game and has been at a lot of extra events too, so he’s really added a lot of entertainment to the whole program,” Stanicek said.
The cheer and dance teams are eager to increase school spirit at the homecoming football game and other events using their routines and collaborations. They are focusing primarily on getting their fellow students engaged.
“Right now we are just working on performances, like dances and cheers, stuff that will get the crowd involved,” Williams said.
Students are highly encouraged to attend the homecoming football game taking place on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. as both the dance and cheer team are anticipating large crowds to bring the true Wakefield energy and spirit.
“We have been so excited because the student section is awesome,” Stanicek said. “They have been more involved than I’ve seen in the past 10 years; they are responding to our cheers and being really positive.”
