Stevenson Varsity Cheer and Poms Charity Event

Illinois high school cheerleaders held a cheer clinic to teach younger girls about the sport and raise money for a worthy cause.

This past September, members of the Stevenson High School cheerleading squads in Lincolnshire, IL, gathered together to raise money for a worthy cause. By teaching a charity cheer clinic to younger girls from throughout their community, the cheer and poms teams were able to spread some joy and experience to the next generation of Stevenson High athletes while honoring the memory of one of the school's alums. The proceeds from the event were donated to the Christopher Steele Foundation, whose namesake was a Stevenson graduate who passed away in 2006 from an inoperable brain tumor. Today, the charity works to support cancer research as well as giving scholarships to worthy athletes from Steele's alma mater.

140 energetic young people showed up for the cheerleading clinic at Stevenson High on September 7th. Ranging from kindergarteners through 8th-graders, the girls were excited to be taught stunts and tumbling skills from the experienced high school cheerleaders. Members from both the Spirit Revolution Cheerleading and Patriette teams were on hand to show their pupils the ropes when it comes to performing a cheer routine. The older girls taught the young ones how to safely do basic stunts as well as all the leaps, turns, and jumps that they work into their own routines. By the time the clinic had concluded on that Saturday afternoon, the girls had learned an entire routine, which they would get to perform during halftime at the Stevenson High School football game on September 27th.

The Stevenson Varsity Cheer and Pom Youth Clinic for Charity has become an annual event at the Illinois school. Last year, about 120 young people showed up to raise money for Misericordia--a Chicago-based charity--but this year, the school decided to target a cause that hit a little closer to home. The Christopher Steele Foundation was founded in 2006 after its namesake died from cancer at age 23. Steele's family and friends wanted to start an organization that would raise money for cancer research (especially emphasizing research to find a cure for sarcomas). The non-profit foundation also supports young men from Stevenson High by providing annual scholarships for baseball and hockey players--the two sports that Steele was most interested in.

Registration for the youth cheer clinic was priced at $20 per participant, so the Stevenson Spirit teams raised almost $3000 for the Christopher Steele Foundation with their event. In addition to being a great fundraiser, the clinic also taught cheer skills to young girls and piqued their interest in pursuing cheerleading as they get older and enter high school.

To learn more about the Christopher Steele Foundation and make a donation, you can visithttp://christophersteelefoundation.org/about.html