Rock Island High School - Watchtower Yearbook (Rock Island, IL)

Page 33 text:

Cheerleading More Than A Smile Every day, from three to five in the afternoon, a group of very im¬ portant girls gathered to practice. These girls were the Rocky cheer¬ leaders, responsible for keeping the spirit of the crowd high at games and leading the team on to victory with morale-boosting cheers. To develop these cheers, the Rocky cheerleaders worked in uni¬ son to create floor cheers, sideline cheers and pom-pom routines. They worked under the direction of Miss Weiderman their coach. These girls devoted most of their after-school time to learning cheers that they hoped would whip the Rocky spec¬ tators into a frenzy and create en¬ thusiasm at the school pep assem¬ blies. Cheerleaders Debbie DeSmet and Kris Blomgren said of the squad, “We hope that Rocky stu¬ dents notice our improvement throughout the season and from one year to the next.” Both varsity and sophomore foot¬ ball squads attended cheerleading camps this past summer. The sopho¬ mores went to the AAC in Geneseo where they earned a blue, a red and a white ribbon. The varsity cheer¬ leaders attended the NCA cheer¬ leading camp at Iowa State Univer¬ sity in Ames. These girls received one superior and two excellent rib¬ bons along with a spirit stick which was given to several squads which showed the most spirit and enthusi¬ asm. Both squads brough back a vari¬ ety of sideline and floor cheers for the football and the basketball sea¬ sons. All the cheerleaders admitted that they had room for improve¬ ment but all in all the season would be a good one. The cheerleaders hoped that the students would help them emphasize pride in Rocky! TOP TO BOTTOM: Michelle Cottrell, Beckie Beane, Debbie Plechaty. Heather McMillan. LEFT: Chrysta Jones. RIGHT: Julie Vassaka Cheerleaders 29

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ROW 1: Angie Hollenbark. Nancy Lewarne. Linda Burkhead. ROW 2: Lisa Keys, Corinnn Washington, Leah Asquith. TOP TO BOTTOM: Corinna Washington, An¬ gie Hollenback, Prudence Green. Debbie DeSmet, Joel Axup. LEFT: Kris Blomgren. RIGHT: Mary Beth Thoms. Row I: Debbie Plechaty. Beckie Beane. ROW 2: Chrysta Jones, Heather McMillan. Julie Vassaka. ROW 3: Candi Hinze, Michelle Cot¬ trell, Shellee Showalter. 28 Cheerleaders

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Seniors ’84 Saying “Good-bye” is never easy. Whether it’s forever or only for awhile, it’s still sad. Saying “Good-bye” to the life you’ve always known, like saying good-bye to Rocky, is somewhat heartbreaking. But it’s not just leav¬ ing Rocky, it’s entering a whole new world; a world of decisions, complications, challenges and free¬ doms. Graduating from high school remains one of the biggest steps a person takes. Trudging into the world we notice that things maybe weren’t so easy. We also finally realized just how in¬ telligent our parents really were during all those years when we doubted them. Remember High School! Think of all the good times as well as the bad. Think of all the friends you made, and all you learned at home, in the classroom and on your own. Think ahead! For every good-bye there is a hello. No need for sorrow or regets, only look ahead. On graduation day when they call your name, you know you met your first big challenge and made it. Now say hello world — here I am! Hello World Every senior needs a warm, quiet place to think about where he’s been and where he’s going. Jeff Wise reflects as May finals draw near. Even as West Campus freshmen, present day 12th graders had a senior mentality in terms of civic responsibility. Here Steven Smith, Brynn Sheley, Chris Huntly and John Miller remember working for the passing of the ref¬ erendum. 30 Seniors Graduation is always a joy as is the beginning of any new adventure. While Ann Timm and Tiffany Collins certainly loved Rocky, they also looked forward to new challenges. “Where’s Mr. Strupp? asks Michelle Lenz, Shari Attwood, Bob Layer, Dawn Brown and Darrin Thompson. This present senior class remembers their roots at West Campus and also that they were the last three year class to graduate from Rocky.