Higher Ground Neighborhood Development Corp.
Oakland , CA
ph: 510.907.3943
highergr
One of the things that sets our programs a part from others is our continued commitment to providing our students with opportunities to experience the world. One of the unique ways in which we do this is to provide our students with Cheerleading as a competitive sport. We were the first afterschool program in Oakland to offer cheerleading to our students as an enrichment activity, and six years later, continue to be the ONLY afterschool program that does so.
Along with cheerleading our programs offer students and their families the opportunity to travel and compete all over the state. We have participated in competitions all over the state in the past 6 years, and each time our students come home with trophy’s and the experience of a lifetime which they can never forget! We take pride in what we do and we work hard to provide these unique life experiences for our families!
Read below as each of our sites that offer cheerleading share their stories from this year’s competitions!
The New Highland Hawks of New Highland academy ASP has 10 cheerleaders ranging from ages 7 to 8 years old. These ten girls have never cheered before or been in a group like setting where they had to depend on each other with full confidence to become a team. To get ready for their first ever competition, the girls practiced in the dance room, and the stage for 2 hours a day, 3 times a week. The girls first practiced just to get acquainted with one another. Then they were taught to trust one another before they were coached on dance routines. Once the routines started to come together the girls were entered into the Jamz Nationals Championship in Stockton California.
The Competition took place on April 1st, 2017. The girls took a road trip to Stockton where they performed for the first time in front of a packed stadium of about 100 people. The girls had to go back stage to practice before they went on stage. Once the girls heard their name being called they ran out on the stage and waited for their music to begin. The girls did an amazing job performing on stage forgetting that they had suffered a quick bout of stage fright just before going on. After the performance was over the girls felt sad and didn’t think that they did well. For the trophy ceremony the girls were called down onto the mat. The announcer said “for first place in the poms division the NEW HIGHLAND HAWKS the girls all started crying and hugging one another yelling “we won we won!” The girls couldn’t believe they were that good!
For our second Competition, we entered the girls into the Sharp international competition Knott’s Berry Farm in Los Angeles California. The girls practiced even harder for the next 4 weeks to make their dance better. The girls took to the road and traveled 357 miles to Los Angeles at 4 am in the morning on May 5th, 2017. Once in LA the girls took a trip thedowntown Hollywood to the walk of fame where they took pictures with animated characters like. Bat girl, Wonder Woman, Beetle juice, Edward Scissor hand and many more movie characters. They were able to receive sweat shirts for their team. The Competition was on Saturday May 6, 2017. The girls waited with anxiety for several hours before they performed. Once they took the stage. Once on the stage the girls were memorized and made the crowd love them. They danced, smiled, cart wheeled into the audience’s heart with their cute uniform and routine. Once the performance was over you could see the tears of joy in their parent’s eyes. The girls were great. They have an amazing 11 year old coach. Once the girls heard that they won first place again at the Sharp competition they were over joyed. They were dancing and singing. How proud they looked while taking pictures. for all of their family and friends.
Enjoy some of our images from our special events below...
The Brookfield Lions cheerleaders from Brookfield Village Elementary school had the exciting opportunity to compete in the Sharp International State Cheer competition, at Knott's Berry Farm’s Theme Park on Saturday May 6,2017 in Anaheim Ca. For the Higher Ground Organization, it has become an inspiring staple for all sites organization wide to have their cheerleaders participate in the chosen competition. Preparing for the trip takes a lot of hard work, dedication and continuous practice for the girls and the coaches.
Before the cheerleaders began practicing for competition we started by giving out student progress reports to discuss the most important part of being a cheerleader, which is being a model student, belonging to a team and proudly representing your school. It was motivating to see the students holding themselves accountable while staying committed. once we were all prepared and ready to go all the teams met early at 4 am Friday morning and the bus pulled off to Anaheim.
After a long drive we pulled into LA and the girls were excited to peer out the windows to see the wonderful site of magic mountain in the distance and the scenery all around. Once we arrived at the Knott's Berry Farm’s hotel unpacked and settled in the girls headed down for a long hard practice, before they were able to go enjoy the wonderful sites on Hollywood Blvd. and see the stars and get souvenirs along the Walk of Fame. After that long day the cheerleaders retired to bed for an early wake up time at 6am to prepare for the competition at 8am.
We walked over to the Theme park registered all the girls-- eyes wide open gazing at the hundreds of other girls dressed and ready to go as went straight in for warm ups. As the lions roar cheerleaders got ready to hit the stage some of them were making small comments like "wow this is a huge stage", "I’m scared” “what if I mess up". With the coaches by their side we assured them they would be fine and to just do your best. They hit the stage with their lion’s roar cheer and ended with a smashing dance and high stunts that surprised the crowd. After it was all over the entire Higher Ground Team waited anxiously in the audience as the lions hit the stage to find out who won.
The long awaited moment finally came the winners of the elementary show cheer was the Higher Ground Brookfield Lions. With their faces full of disbelief, the girls were so excited they couldn't believe it. At the end of the day the higher Ground teams got to enjoy the rides and attractions at the park. Way to go lions!
On May 5th-6th 2017 Parker’s Higher Ground Believers competed in the Sharp International Knott’s Berry Farm State Championship. We stayed at the Knotts Berry Farms hotel next to the amusement park. A total of 9 girls participated in the competition grades ranging from Kindergarten to 5th. Our cheerleaders prepared for the state championship by competing in the NorCal Challenge cup and came home with the championship. With that win we moved on to the State championship and won 1st place! This was an awesome experience our team definitely knows what it feels like to win.
Enjoy some of our images from our special events below...
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Higher Ground Neighborhood Development Corp.
Oakland , CA
ph: 510.907.3943
highergr