This summer, Manhattan High’s cheer team attended a camp where they learned great new skills for the upcoming seasons.

Instructors from the World Class Cheer program out in California travelled to Manhattan to teach the team.

“They were really nice and made sure they knew names, answered questions, and kept positive vibes with them throughout the camp,” junior Erika Mccaskill said.

The camp began at 9 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m. which gave the team plenty of time to get to know each other better.

“We did a lot of team building activities throughout the camp, for example everyday after lunch we played games,” sophomore Tiffany Huser said. “Since this is my first year on Varsity I made a lot of new friends on varsity but I also made a few friends on Junior Varsity. Camp is a really good place to make friends.”

While practicing new cheers and dances the former MHS cheerleaders set a good example for the team. With all the games and pep rallies that the MHS cheer team has to plan for, that help from the more experienced cheerleaders is needed and extremely helpful to the new people joining the team, plus it boosts a closeness between teammates and creates friendships.

“It was a cool experience to see the veterans helping out the newbies,” senior Rylie Kannady said.

Lunch was served everyday for the team. Parents were a big help in the preparation for the meals, they made sure that everyone had enough to eat, and if there was leftover food they took it and dropped it off at the shelter.

“During lunch the coaches would come sit with us and talk about anything,” Mccaskill said.

One of cheerleading’s most sought-after components is how people get thrown into the air and flipped all around. It looks like this year, the MHS cheer team will have a lot to offer when it comes to stunts. Although these new stunts and tricks are extremely difficult to perfect, the cheer team always pulls through when it is showtime.

”I feel good about the difficulty, it is something different, but I think everybody on the team really likes it,” Kannady said.