The cheerleaders say “bring it on” as their season begins with four two-hour games packed in the first week. The JV team covers the boys’ and girls’ JV basketball teams after school at 5:30 p.m. The varsity team cheers at the varsity basketball games that start directly after the JV games.

Freshman Rachel Benezra said the first week is going smoothly, excluding the mishap that happened occurred during halftime.

“One of our stunts fell last night,” she said. “She toed in her stunt and then fixed her self too quickly and her bases dropped her. It was embarrassing to have to kneel while the rest on the stunts were going on.”

Freshman Marissa Stazzone is taking an AP course along with other advanced classes. She said she is having a rough time keeping up with her homework.

“Being at the games is very fun and exciting, but then I have to go home and do my homework,” she said. “I get home around 8 p.m. and don’t get started on my homework until 9. Then I don’t get a very good night of sleep because I have to stay up late to finish my assignments.”

Benezra said cheering at varsity and JV games is different from cheering at middle-school games.

“Middle school games are way different because middle schools bring their cheerleaders with them and high schools don’t,” she said. “So we have to fill up both quarters and halftime, whereas in middle-school games we only have to fill up one quarter and half of halftime. It’s more time-consuming and energy exhausting.”

By Lexi Vorndran