Cheerful Encouragement

by Kristen Warfield, Hope preschool teacher and cheerleading coach

The annual Lutheran Elementary Schools Tournament (LEST) is one of the most exciting times in the middle school year. There are so many activities at the tournament spanning arts, academics and athletics – and everyone in grades 5-8 is encouraged to participate. As Hope’s cheerleading coach, I had a front row seat to the basketball teams’ championship games — both boys and girls this year! It was incredible to see the basketball teams work together and achieve 1st and 2nd place, respectively.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…”  and I believe it is important for the cheerleaders to be present at each game and to encourage the players, coaches and crowd to keep the energy up and to help each player realize they can do amazing things. Despite some tough match-ups and nail-biting moments this year, Hope cheer led the efforts to encourage each player, and ensure that no matter if we won or lost, the athletes ALWAYS knew the whole Hope community was rooting for them.

Whether that cheerful encouragement is to “set the pace” or to “be aggressive”, watching these kids encourage each other to do their best is a very powerful thing!

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