The Picayune Memorial High School Varsity Cheerleaders recently returned from Universal Cheerleaders Association Cheerleading Camp held at USM in Hattiesburg.

The squad represented Picayune well by wining numerous awards: Four Spirit Sticks; 2nd Place in Home Pom Routine out of 17 varsity squads; 3rd place in Extreme Routine Competition; Traditions Award; six All-Superior Blue Ribbons for numerous evaluations throughout the week; one All-Superior blue ribbon for Overall Review; the “Banana” Overall Spirit Award on the second night, eight UCA All-Star Nominees, two UCA All-Stars, and two UCA Staff Invitations.

The PMHS Varsity Cheerleaders had eight seniors nominated for UCA All-Stars which is one of the most prestigious awards in cheerleading today. The seniors nominated were Kayla Bounds, Chancy McLemore, Jessica Smith, Whittney Taylor, Angel Cupstid, Chloe Palma, Brittany Stewart, and Vanessa McCrory. They provided great leadership all through the week at camp and did an excellent job at the All-Star tryouts.

Chancy McLemore and Jessica Smith were selected as UCA All-Star Cheerleaders. These two have the opportunity to perform in London’s New Year’s Day Parade in London, England or in the Paris New Year’s Day Parade in Paris, France. Chancy and Jessica were also invited to be on the UCA Staff in the summer of 2008.

While at camp, the cheerleaders learned numerous cheers, chants, dances, jumps, elite stunts and pyramids, and focused on crowd involvement and improving school spirit.

For “Crazy Day” at camp, the theme which was chosen by the UCA Staff was “Rock ‘N Roll Day”. The PMHS Varsity Cheerleaders chose to dress up as the rock band AC/DC.

All 22 members of the squad truly united at camp and had a wonderful time, with lots of laughs, smiles, and memories to last a lifetime.

The cheerleaders are excited about this upcoming season and look forward to promoting school spirit not only in the school, but in the community as well.

The PMHS Varsity Cheerleader captains are Kayla Bounds, Chancy McLemore, Jessica Smith, and Whittney Taylor. They attended a UCA Leadership Camp at USM where they learned many new strategies to improve school spirit, emphasize teamwork, and build a united squad. They will have the opportunity to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

The Varsity Cheerleaders include:

Seniors—Kayla Bounds, Captain; Chancy McLemore, Captain; Jessica Smith, Captain; Whittney Taylor, Captain; Angel Cupstid, Chole Palma, Brittany Stewart, and Vanessa McCrory.

Juniors—Ashley Bynum, Kayla Drennen, Megan Maximo, Lindsey Walker, an Janae Wills.

Sophomores—Iman Haidar, Lauren Jones, Emily Ladner, Chassidy Martin, Olivia Meitzler, Hallie Raybon, Hailey Stegall, Sam Thrasher, and Larencia Woods.

The squad is under the direction and leadership of Kaye Smith and Connie Windham.

“Meet the Tide—A Community Wide Pep Rally” will be held on August 23, 2007 at the PMHS Football Stadium. Please come out and support your Maroon Tide! Also, the annual “Little Tide Cheer Camp will be held July 18-19 at the PMHS Gymnasium for little girls ages 3 through 8th grade. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. The Little Tide Cheerleaders will be performing at a pre-game show at the first home football game on Friday, August 31. Roll Tide, Roll!