Members of the Southwest campus cheer team are national champions after winning the SSAP Cheer and Dance Competition in Arlington, Texas on March 4, 2023.
Twenty girls from grades 3-8 from the Varnett Public School campus participated in the event at Summit High School. Twenty Varnett girls from grades 3-8 competed against four other teams and came out on top in the competition held at Summit High School.
Varnett also had two individual winners: Fifth-grader Ryian Brown who won the Elementary Tumbling Category and fourth-grader Amailah Jackie who won the Elementary Jump Competition.
About 40 people, including Varnett Superintendent Dr. Nita White and Southwest Campus Director Mr. Jesse Arps, traveled to Arlington to watch the team in action. Others in attendance were Ms. Tamara Harrison, instructional coach; Ms. Jeleesha Dukes, third-grade teacher; Mr. Keenon Gillans, P.E Coach, and Ms. Robbie Sherman, pre-kindergarten teacher assistant.
“Ms. Glasco, Mr. Thomas and myself are overjoyed about our win,” Ms. Francesca Amos said, speaking for herself and the other coaches. “The girls worked hard, remained diligent and came out on top.”
SSAP (Strength, Speed and Agility Program) was founded in 1996 as a summer training program for high school athletes. It soon expanded to a challenging cheerleading competition which now is the organization’s main event.
Congratulations to our national champion cheer team!