Dear Editor,
I want to express my support for the Gilroy High School
cheerleading Team and congratulate them on their success in earning
the invitation to perform at the NFL Pro Bowl.
Dear Editor,
I want to express my support for the Gilroy High School cheerleading Team and congratulate them on their success in earning the invitation to perform at the NFL Pro Bowl. It is a prestigious honor and brings great pride to our community and your school.
It is unfortunate that the school board has chosen not to support the team. I feel that success should be supported and encouraged at all levels. Valuable lifetime lessons and learning opportunities including teamwork, discipline, organization and accomplishment are not the sole province of the classroom.
Despite the views of some on the board, grades and activities are important. There is “life after high school”, but your efforts and achievement in school can help you succeed in later life. Success is not “just showing up” but rather what you do while there that counts, and sometimes opportunities are once in a lifetime. The most important lesson is to experience the success you have achieved.
Many people have misconceptions about today’s cheerleading. It is a comprehensive and worthy sport, equivalent in effort and achievement as any other school-supported activity. The Pro Bowl trip is not a “vacation”, but is an intense performance necessitating full days of practice and appearances.
Despite the lack of support from the school board, I would urge the team to keep its spirits high. There are many, many people in the community who understand the effort and sacrifice it takes to excel and represent your school and community. We are extremely proud of your efforts.
Excellence and accomplishment in any worthy activity are important building blocks for future success. Keep up the good work, and do not be discouraged. Do not be held back by those who accept mediocrity and cannot see the connection between achievement and the experience of success.
I am sorry that your team has been deprived of a great opportunity. I understand the demands on the district upon daily attendance and fiscal concerns, but not at the larger cost of sacrificing unique educational opportunities.
To paraphrase Robert Kennedy: “Some people see things that are and say why? I dream things that never were, and ask why not?” Keep your dreams alive.
Eric Nagareda, Gilroy
