June 27, 2019 at 07:02AM
Buy Photo There were 128 campers at the third annual cheer camp held at Isaac Lane Elementary School on Saturday. (Photo: BRANDON SHIELDS/The Jackson Sun)
It was the middle of summer, but Isaac Lane Elementary School was a busy place last weekend when a cheerleading camp was held in the school's gym, occupying the facility for the entire day.
Raven Parks, a North Side graduate who cheered at the University of Memphis, helps lead the camp.
"This is our third year to do it, and we have girls ages 3-16 coming in and learning the different parts of cheer," Parks said. "Cheers, dance, stunts and tumbling, and we're critiquing every single thing they're doing to give them a good foundation for cheer if they want to do it at school or competitively outside school."
Parks' mother, Angela, is the founder of the local educational club for children called Butterflies & Bookworms, and she used her connections to help coordinate the event.
"We just wanted something to have for the kids to do in the summer that helped them learn about cheer and possibly expose them to something else that could give them a college scholarship," Angela Parks said. "Because my daughter's education was paid for by scholarships she received through cheer, thank the Lord.
"And these kids coming up need to have the same opportunity, and they need to know about it and begin working toward it."
Raven and a few girls she's cheered with in past years helped out with different stations for the campers to work in throughout the day. There were about 10 instructors and 128 campers.
Nicole Hicks, a former cheer coach in Jackson at several different places including Lane College, helped with the event as well.
"All of these girls that are coaching, I coached them," Hicks said. "And a lot of the kids who are here today, I coached their mother or their sister or someone in years past, and I could tell with some of them whose child they were when I saw them."
Hicks' coaching resume includes cheerleaders who have been a part of various teams that won national championships in different cheer organizations.
"She knows what she's doing, so we were glad to get her help in this camp," Angela Parks said.
Hicks said the camp is important because not all children have early exposure to the sport.
"Cheer is a sport and should be treated like one," Hicks said. "There are camps for other sports where children learn the fundamentals, and I think there need to be more cheer camps for younger children around here too.
"Cheer has injuries like other sports, and they need to learn fundamentals for safety and how to learn the basics of the sport. I think we did that today."
Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.
Read or Share this story: https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/2019/06/26/cheer-camp-helps-jackson-students-learn-sport-fundamentals/1545073001/
Buy Photo There were 128 campers at the third annual cheer camp held at Isaac Lane Elementary School on Saturday. (Photo: BRANDON SHIELDS/The Jackson Sun)
It was the middle of summer, but Isaac Lane Elementary School was a busy place last weekend when a cheerleading camp was held in the school's gym, occupying the facility for the entire day.
Raven Parks, a North Side graduate who cheered at the University of Memphis, helps lead the camp.
"This is our third year to do it, and we have girls ages 3-16 coming in and learning the different parts of cheer," Parks said. "Cheers, dance, stunts and tumbling, and we're critiquing every single thing they're doing to give them a good foundation for cheer if they want to do it at school or competitively outside school."
Parks' mother, Angela, is the founder of the local educational club for children called Butterflies & Bookworms, and she used her connections to help coordinate the event.
"We just wanted something to have for the kids to do in the summer that helped them learn about cheer and possibly expose them to something else that could give them a college scholarship," Angela Parks said. "Because my daughter's education was paid for by scholarships she received through cheer, thank the Lord.
"And these kids coming up need to have the same opportunity, and they need to know about it and begin working toward it."
Raven and a few girls she's cheered with in past years helped out with different stations for the campers to work in throughout the day. There were about 10 instructors and 128 campers.
Nicole Hicks, a former cheer coach in Jackson at several different places including Lane College, helped with the event as well.
"All of these girls that are coaching, I coached them," Hicks said. "And a lot of the kids who are here today, I coached their mother or their sister or someone in years past, and I could tell with some of them whose child they were when I saw them."
Hicks' coaching resume includes cheerleaders who have been a part of various teams that won national championships in different cheer organizations.
"She knows what she's doing, so we were glad to get her help in this camp," Angela Parks said.
Hicks said the camp is important because not all children have early exposure to the sport.
"Cheer is a sport and should be treated like one," Hicks said. "There are camps for other sports where children learn the fundamentals, and I think there need to be more cheer camps for younger children around here too.
"Cheer has injuries like other sports, and they need to learn fundamentals for safety and how to learn the basics of the sport. I think we did that today."
Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.
Read or Share this story: https://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/2019/06/26/cheer-camp-helps-jackson-students-learn-sport-fundamentals/1545073001/