This week at a glance!

Hi cheer family!!! I hope everyone had a great Chritmas with their families. I want to say thank you again for making our Christmas party such a memorable experience. A special thank you to the Millers for hosting at their house after dinner. I would also like to thank those of you that helped get the girls to dinner in Marion. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Tomorrow, December 29th, we are having practice with the high school. The girls will get helpful advice about building, and ways they can prepare themselves if they plan do continue with cheerleading in high school. After those girls leave, we are also going to have a short practice of our own. So practice will end up being from 10-2. 

Please bring a sack lunch, or snack with you. We will not be taking time to order food, or have parents bring it, simply to save time. We have a lot we want to work on!

Also, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone about our second fundraiser date at a home game. This is selling concessions again at the game on January 6th, the first Tuesday back. Please let me know if you can work, I would like it to be different parents than last time just to keep things fair. 

If you have any questions about tomorrow please just text or call me. Thanks again for being amazing!!

Kashia

Christmas Party!

Hi cheer family!!! It's that time of year to finally celebrate our Christmas together. As most of you know, we are going to have the Christmas party Monday, Dec. 22. The plan is for everyone to meet at Maddie Millers house at 5:45, and we have parents that have volunteered to drive the girls. 

I have made dinner reservations for 6:30 at Bennies in Marion. I will attach a menu below so girls can know what to choose from. After dinner, we plan to go back to the Miller's house for a movie, snacks, present exchange. Before all of the girls get excited, it looks like the present I ordered for them will not be done in time, believe me..I cried. 

My plan is to also give each girl $10 to spend at Bennies. If you look at the menu and believe you are going to spend more, please bring some of your own. I will cover tip as well. 

I can't wait to see you all!! I hope everyone is having a fabulous first weekend off :) I will put Maddie Miller's address below as well. 

http://www.benniesitalianfoods.com/

1205 Election Dr. Benton Il

Driving on north main turn left between Wiggs Bike Shop and the Pawn shop(Wiggs is next to flowers by Dave) drive straight down that road and turn at the second left. Our house is tan with maroon shutters and has a rock that says "the millers" in the front.

Tabitha Miller's cell is 5139416 if you get lost :)

Week of 12/15

Monday: Home game vs. Sesser be at the school at 4:00!!! I want to practice before. Superman uniform. 

***I still need to know what parents can help out and work concessions for us tomorrow! PLEASE HELP! 

***Have also finally bought new bows to match all uniforms. They are 12 dollars each. I paid for them so if you would like to write me a check, just make it out to me. 

Tuesday: Home girls game vs. Harrisburg! Be at the school by 4:30. Maroon and gold uniform, matching bow. 

As of right now, our Christmas party is going to be on Monday, Dec. 22. We are having a few cheer moms carpool the girls to Bennies in Marion. I will keep you updated with details :)

Fundraiser

BGS offers fundraising opportunities for extra curricular activity groups to make some extra money.  This is selling food items at home girls and boys basketball games.  I have signed us up for December 15th and January 6th.


Now with our activity group being one that participates in each of these games, we need our lovely parents to help us out :)  Our first night to work concessions is next Monday, December 15th.  This is a home game against Sesser.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help us out and let me know if you can be one of these parents we can depend on!


I also want to take the opportunity to say thank you!  I seriously could not have gotten through this year without each and everyone of you.   Let me know if you can help out Monday :)

Week of 12/8-12/12

I hope you all noticed I FINALLY added our calendars to the blog :) As well as the contracts that everyone signed before tryouts, and our recent addition.


This week:


Monday- Practice 3-5
Tuesday- Home boys game against Marion.  Be at school by 4:30.  "Superman" uniform.
Wednesday- Away game in Pinkneyville.  Bus leaves at 4:00 be at school NO LATER than 3:45.  Maroon, White, and GOLD uniform.
Thursday- Home girls game against Herrin.  Be at school by 4:30.  "Old" uniform.
Friday- Day off!
Saturday- RLC Shootout.  Bus leaves at 9:50.  "Old" uniform.

Away game 11/20

Bus leaves tomorrow at 4:15 so that means you need to be in the cafeteria and ready to go NO LATER than 4:00. This is our first year to travel in a long time, so let's make sure we do it right. 

Tomorrow night I have an interview at 5:00pm in Carterville to be admitted into my masters program through McKendree. I will NOT be riding the bus to and from the game with the girls, but I WILL be at the game with them the entire time. 

Mr. Davis (7th grade coach) will be responsible for the girls until we all get to the game. I told him under no circumstances should he wait on anyone. If you are not there when the bus leaves, you will miss the game. 

I please ask that all girls ride the bus with responsible maturity, and confirm that we are there to support the boys, and their efforts while at away games. 

We will be wearing the "superman" uniform to the game as scheduled on the calendar. If you have any questions please text or call me. 

Pink Out Game!

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great weekend getting ready for our first game. I just wanted to give the girls some info for tomorrow :)

To school, please wear your pink out shirts! I was hoping the warm ups would be here in time, but as you know they will not be in for another week or so. I do have high hopes we will receive our poms sometime tomorrow :)

To the game, you will be wearing your pink out shirt, and plain maroon skirt we wore to the RLC camp. Please wear your hair in a high pony tail, ALL hair pulled back with our bow. If you did not receive a bow at camp, I will have one for you after school. Bring your shoes with you to the game, it is very easy if you just keep them in the box and change into them when we get started. 

After school, the girls will NOT be allowed to stay until we practice at 4:00. There are very strict rules, and I will not be with them until it is time to warm up. Take this time to go grab something to eat, and primp before the game because we will be starting practice promptly at 4. 

Game time is 5:30. Our two sideline squads will be switching off at half times so that both groups cheer part of each game. There will be absolutely no use of any cell phones thoughtout the game. If you would like to let your parents hold it for you, that is fine with me otherwise I will bring a box you put it in before we get started. 

Grades will be checked tomorrow at school. If any of your grades fall below the constitution agreement, you will sit during the game, and not be allowed to attend practices until that grade is back up to passing. This is a very important rule I take very seriously, along with our Principal. School always comes first! 

I hope everyone is excited for the first game, and I can't wait to show everyone the hard work these girls have been putting in. This week, we have made practice on Tuesday from 12-2 and Wednesday 3-5. We have a home game again Thursday, and your uniform should be on the schedule. We will talk later about what the girls will wear to school. 

Have a great week! I will post again about other announcements later this week :) 

RLC Cheer Camp

Tomorrow morning is Rend Lake College cheer camp. It starts at 9 but I ask everyone to be there by at least 8:30 to get signed in and make your payments. 

I would like the girls to wear the maroon skirt I handed out this week, and any Benton shirt. Please wear your bloomers with these skirts, and shirt tucked in. White shoes if you have them, with low socks. I will bring your new cheer bows for you to wear and take home to keep.  No jewelry. 

I am so excited to be attending our first event together. If for some reason your daughter cannot attend for emergency purposes, PLEASE let me know.  

Also, I would like to have a parent meeting after practice on Monday. That way we can go over schedule, discuss any questions, and just meet if we haven't had the chance yet :) thank you for being wonderful!

Important Info

Hi everyone!! Just wanted to keep you updated with some information. 

1. Ordered items:

I have ordered all the shoes and warm ups. You owe $97.85 (this is if you ordered adult or women's sizes in the warm ups) or $93.85 (if you ordered youth sizes in the warm up). We should be recieving our items that were in stock by next week. A couple sizes of the shoes were on back order, I am going to call today and see how much longer it will be, and we may have to end up changing our shoe choice. I will keep you updated. 

2. Schedule:

I have gotten word from Dr. Goble the girls will be cheering at all home games, boys and girls. In addition, we will be traveling with both teams, trading off games. I am still waiting for a final schedule, and when I have one you will too I promise! 

The girls will have practice with me on Friday this week after school from 3-5. 

3. Gymnastics class:

It was my hope to get the girls in a gymnastics class all together this season.   Myself, along with other parents have checked prices at gyms in Benton, as well as Christopher and both seem to be very reasonable when they have a group of 8 or more. My concerns are now that we are going to be traveling and practicing on days we do not have games, I do not want to overwhelm anyone. I will, however, strongly reccommend that the girls are in a gymnastics class. I know they require tumbling for high school cheerleading, and I would like to get to a point where I do in middle school as well. 

4. Camp:

We have been invited to Rend Lake College for a one-day cheer camp on November 1. The camp goes from 9-11:30 am and the cost is $25.00 per girl. All of the girls have shown interest, but I am leaving it up to the parents to decide because it will be you providing transportation to and from the camp, and well as being responsible for the cost. I think it would be a great opportunity for our squad, and I hope we get the chance to do it together :). 

As always if you have any questions just call or text me!

Kashia Dunbar

618-751-1770

Warm Ups and Shoes

I need to order these ASAP. 

Shoes are a required purchase for your daughter. I let the girls pick them out and I think they did a great job! Here is a picture of the shoes and their price information. After you take a look at them please send me what size I need to order. If payment is an issue up front, I can pay for the shoes and set up a plan for you to pay throughout the duration of the season. 

Warm-ups

Completely optional, however, I had the girls pick out an option that was very reasonable compared to others. I will not be setting up payment plans for the warm-ups because they are not required for each girl. I will also not be having superior embroider names on the jackets to save time, and I do believe we could get that cheaper around home if that is something your daughter would like to do.  The colors in this picture show green and white, where ours will be maroon and white. 

If you would like a warm up, please let me know at the same time you give me your daughters shoe size. I will be ordering them at the same time to save on shipping cost :)

Thank you!!

Practice

I am going to let the girls out today, 10/14 and tomorrow, 10/15 at 5:30 instead of 6. Next week, we will start having practice right after school until 4:30.  I am still working on uploading the sideline cheers to the blog, but I will send you a message as soon as they are posted :) 

We had a great practice yesterday. Didn't get as much done as I would have hoped, but everyone got their uniforms, and we cleaned up our hello cheer. As far as extras needed for the uniforms, the girls need a pair of maroon bloomers, and a maroon spandex under shirt (turtleneck) to go under one of the uniforms. I believe you can order these online, or from all stars and stitches for around 12 dollars. I do have some old ones we found from many years ago if you would not like to purchase one. 

We will be looking at tennis shoes and warm ups this week to order in time for games, I promise to watch prices and let you know as soon as the girls decide to what they would like!

Yesterday at practice we had a little time to practice stunts. The girls are all very egar to get started, but I need help reminding them we cannot all be flyers. I realize this is a very exciting time for them, and I want to make it as fun as I can, but I also do not want unnecessary drama for reasons out of my control. We are a team, and we all need to work together to make it enjoyable. 

I am contacting a few gyms in town to get times and prices for a group class. This is absolutely not required, as it may be expensive. I will let you know when I find out more info. 

Have a great week! And as always, contact me with any questions or concerns you may have :)

Kashia Dunbar

618-751-1770

Welcome!

Hello Cheer Parents!!

I am so excited to get started this week.  First, I just want to let you know we WILL have a parent meeting; I am just waiting for schedules to be clear that way everyone can attend. 

          This week, I will be sending home a few papers that deal with the legalities of the school while your daughter is a cheerleader this basketball season.  The first page includes information on concussions, and the following is a parent waiver for emergency contact when we are at away ball games.

          The waiver is VERY important for a couple reasons.  It is required by the state before your daughter can cheer, and gives permission for certain people to take them home after away games.  As of right now, I am not sure if we will be attending all boys’ away games.  I am talking with administration about it, especially because I know how badly the girls want to go.  If we are able to attend all away games, the ONLY people your daughter may leave with besides me on the bus for emergency reasons will be the people listed on this form.  There is only room for one person at the bottom of the waiver, so if you think of anyone else your daughter might need to ride with after a game, please put it on an attached piece of paper.  Under no circumstances will they be allowed to leave with ANYONE unless they are noted on this sheet of paper I will turn in to Mr. Corn.  I suggest you include grandparents, friends of the family, etc. just to be on the safe side, because you cannot add any person later in the season.  Please have the girls bring this to practice on Monday, I need to get them turned into the office ASAP.

          Practice.  I am going to have the first cheerleading practice on Monday, October 13.  We will get started at 10:00 A.M. and end around 2:00 P.M.  Please have them bring money to order lunch or bring a lunch of their own.  Depending on cross country schedules, we will also have practice after school on Tuesday, October 14 & Wednesday October 15 at 4:00 P.M. that will last until 6:00.  I will keep you updated with those times in case they need to be changed.

          Remind 101.  I have started a new group called “BGS Cheer Parent Reminder.”  I have added all of you to my group, however, if you would like me to add another number I can.  I will be sending out reminders like practice and game times, what uniforms they are to wear, and any other event we are participating in.  I will also sometimes be asking you to check the cheer blog for important videos, or messages I need to relay.

          While this information is also on the cheer blog, I would like to share my contact information so that you may get in touch with me with any questions.  I hope everyone is as excited as I am to get started!  This is going to be a new experience for me, as well as most of the girls.  I just want everyone to have a fun time, and grow in relationships they will share for many years.  I promise to always take care of your daughters, and contact you with any concerns I have.  I also promise to set a good example, and watch over them whenever they are my responsibility throughout the season.  Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have, I will always be here for my girls!

Best,

Kashia Dunbar

Cheerleading Sponsor

(618)751-1770

kdunbar@benton47.org