Hello Kewpie Alumni,
First, let me say thank you for your support of
www.kewpie.net since October
1998 as I just started my 20th year of providing “The
Kewpie Gathering Place” for all classmates of Hickman High
School. Since the beginning of
www.kewpie.net you have helped me raise over $119,000.00 in
gifts and donations for Hickman High School, I am overwhelmed by
your support. We have $3,000.00 worth of annual endowed
scholarships because of your generous support and those
scholarships will be given for the 10th time to this
graduating class in 2018.
I just think it’s fitting to start off the 20th year
of www.kewpie.net with a
project to honor the 2017 Missouri Cheerleading Coaches
Association State Championship team for our “Kewpie
Cheerleaders” being the 1st cheerleaders of our great
high school to win a state championship!
Once again, I am asking for your serious consideration to help
me with a project I am anxious to do for one of the most
deserving groups of young people at Hickman High School I have
encountered. The bottom line is I would like you to help me buy
congratulatory rings for the Varsity Cheerleaders and their three
coaches. This project is
going to cost approximately $5,000.00 to $6,000.00 to purchase 26 rings and I
am starting the donations with the first $500.00 to get us
started and make this happen. Now I will explain why
this is important to me and my reasons for asking you to help
support this project.
On December 15, 2015, I asked BAM Mascots for a quote on two
Kewpie Mascot Costumes. After long deliberation and work
with six companies through much consultation and with Molly & John
Lyman (Hickman Cheer Coach and her husband John who wore “Truman
the Tiger” at MU), the costumes were purchased with the 10K you helped raise and put into use on May 22, 2016 at the
Graduation Ceremony of the Class of 2016. These mascots have set Hickman High School apart from any of our
competition. Thanks for making that happen with your donations!
Right after the 2016 graduation, I started volunteering my
time taking pictures for Molly’s Kewpie Cheerleaders as I
have been doing ever since. I take pictures at tryouts, training
camps, regional competitions, Kewpie Football and Basketball
games, other special cheerleading events, dinners with the
cheerleaders at coach’s house with her family, and state
competitions. I even get to ride the school bus to some out of
town ball games…, what a way to go for an ol’ 72-year-old
photographer wannabe…! And then at the end of the cheer season,
which is an all year season, I provide a webpage video slideshow
for the Cheer Team at their banquet. And many of the
cheerleaders are from generations of Kewpie Alumni families and
some assistant coaches are past Kewpie cheerleaders!
If you were a CHEERLEADER or had a daughter or son who has
been a high school cheerleader, you need no explanation of the
sacrifices made by cheerleaders and their families. For those of
you who, like me, had no knowledge of what is involved being a
high school cheerleader, I will share some of the things I have
learned over the last two years of being with this great “Kewpie
Family of Cheerleaders” and why I want to do something for the
true bloodline of the our “Kewpie Spirit”!
I want you to understand the structure of what’s involved
and why I think that this group of young people who, as I see
it, bend over backwards, frontwards and jump up and down to
represent the greatest high school on the planet, deserve a
special reward for bringing a championship honor to Hickman High
School. I asked Kewpie Cheerleader Coach Molly Lyman to give me
the details, the best she could, of what is involved and
expected of every cheerleader at Hickman High School. The
following is a list that Molly provided me.
1.
The
Cheer season is truly year-round. Cheer tryouts are in April and
the season goes until basketball ends in late February/early
March.
2.
Cheer team has
23 on Varsity and 12 on JV with 3 coaches.
3.
Cheer
Athletes are required to be at all practices and all games.
4.
Normal
practices are two days a week for a total of 4 hours. That
equals out to 172 hours of practice per athlete for the season.
5.
In
addition to that, Competition practices are 5 days a week for a
total of 12.5 hours per week for 7 weeks. That is 87.5 hours of
practice and each athlete has to be present.
6.
There
are at least 10 football games a year (depending on post season
play) where each athlete spends a minimum of 4 hours at each
game between pregame, game time, and clean up.
7.
Basketball games are dependent on a “home year” or an “away
year”. There are on average 14 games per year (not including
post season). Since we cover both girls and boys basketball,
cheer athletes are required to be at the game for a minimum of 4
hours (to cover JV and Varsity basketball games).
8.
This
does not include time on a bus to games outside of Columbia.
Since most post season or away games are in KC or STL, these
rides are about 4 total hours.
9.
A new
cheerleader spends $308 on game/practice wear. They also
purchase 2 shirts to wear for regionals and state. They total
about $35. This doesn’t include the money parents pay to watch
their kids cheer at two sports and compete at two competitions
(one which is out of town). Due to the time constraints, many
cheerleaders can only work a part time job or babysit on the
weekends. Cheerleading is a very expensive sport. Many of them
help pay their own Cheer bill which includes items they need to
wear throughout the year and camp and choreography costs.
(Shoes, poms, briefs, bag midriff, warm ups, etc) The things
they are buying aren’t required for other sports. There are many
fundraising opportunities for athletes to help cover these
costs. Cost is the biggest issue.
10.
As for food
for the cheerleaders….we feed them every away game and team
dinners are held right before they compete. In a season there
are 10 to 14 meals. We set up a signup genius and parents sign
up for things to bring. In the past, I coordinated it all. This
year, a parent helped.
11.
Hickman just
won its FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP in Cheer on 10/28/2017. Athletes are
hoping to purchase State Championship rings. Coaches have tried
to find a cost that is affordable, but know many can't afford a
ring because of the amount they have already paid to be a member
of the Cheer squad, be the face of Kewpie Spirit, and represent
the Kewpies with pride. We are trying to find any help we can.
These Kewpies who represent the “Kewpie Spirit” throughout the
entire school year and just honored our alma mater with a State
Championship Title for the first time in Kewpie history, I think,
are most deserving of receiving a State Championship ring and
hope that you agree and support me on this project.
Please send a check made payable to me, Charley Blackmore,
or click here to give a non-tax-deductible gift to help
purchase these rings…. The rings will be purchased from Jostens,
the Class Ring company at around $200.00 per ring, for a total
estimated amount of $5,200.00. Any money that can be collected which
isn’t needed for the purchase of rings will go into the expense
budget for cheerleaders’ uniforms, etc. Thank you for you
consideration!
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