After watching a news segment on a senior living cheerleading squad in Texas, Cedarhurst of Tesson Heights resident Janiece Donaldson knew she and some of the other ladies in the community were up for the challenge to form their own team.
“They were called the ‘Heritage Hotties,’ and boy, that got my attention,” Donaldson said.
After pitching it to staff and getting the “OK,” Donaldson’s next hurdle was recruiting residents to form the new squad. This proved to be more challenging than expected as many seniors had a narrow perception of what cheerleading meant.
“I twisted their arms,” Donaldson laughed. “The process of trying to find people, that was difficult because a lot of these ladies thought the only kind of cheerleading is when you throw people up in the air and do pyramids. I had to reassure them, I don’t know how many times, that they weren’t going to have to do that, and then we started talking about modifying it so everybody can be a part of it. That’s kind of how it got started.”
To help choreograph routines, CJ Shorey — an incoming sophomore at Nernix Hall and the granddaughter of Tesson Heights resident Marie Merli — was brought in due to her experience of cheering for the St. Louis Univeristy High School hockey team.
“I really find that it’s good for their mind and their body to get moving. You have to remember a lot of stuff,” Shorey said. “I just find it so fun coming here and being able to give them energy. It just makes me happy.”
A few months following the formation of the team — since dubbed the “Cheer Queens” — the group was made aware of Tesson Heights’ inaugural talent show. The number of their weekly practices doubled to ensure their routines were pristine, and on June 25, the Cheer Queens made their public debut to an audience of family and friends.
“I kind of looked at Tom and Jeremy (the talent show hosts), the surprised look on their faces when we would do things. I don’t think they thought we could do this,” Donaldson said.
Though the feeling of dazzling the room was wonderful, the highlight of joining the team for all involved has been how close everyone has grown. The words “group,” “community” and “family” were thrown out more than once by each member.
“Personally, when I first came here, I just stayed in my room a lot, and that wasn’t fun. So I started coming out and meeting people, and then I realized that the more you’re active here, the better your experience is here,” Donaldson said.
“That’s exactly why I decided to go along with this,” Merli added. “I was at the point of ‘Don’t bother me, I won’t bother you,’ but you, (Janiece), kind of pushed me. Thank you. I am so happy that we have this love of each other.”
Following the talent show, the team has decided to take the summer off, aside from team bonding featuring cheer movies, but will be back in the fall with new routines.