Oak Park High School’s cheer team held their Mini Clinic on Oct. 6 in the Pavillion. The clinic welcomed students from all three elementary schools.
A committee of team moms helped organize all the mini campers and cheerleaders into groups behind the scenes. From there, the process of preparing for the students began.
“It includes coming up with a theme, a dance and cheers to teach the kids,” Varsity Cheer head coach Mara Smialek wrote to the Talon. “We create a flier and begin to promote the event to our community. Next, we create a t-shirt and bow specific to the theme and order them through our vendors. The cheerleaders practice the dance and cheers in preparation for the mini campers.”
The clinic went from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and consisted of multiple activities to keep the kids engaged.
“At the start of the clinic, the high school cheerleaders greet the mini campers and play games with them,” Smialek wrote. “Then they break into groups based off of grade level and begin to rotate through the 4 different centers. The 4 centers the mini campers rotate through are dance, cheer, snack and craft. We provide the clinic kids with a light snack and drink and they make a craft at the craft station.”
The clinic has been running since 2004 when Smialek joined the program and has been a big success.
“We had over 100 little kids come and participate this year,” Smialek wrote. “The clinic campers as well as the high school cheerleaders had SO much fun working together! They make the sweetest memories and it’s such a heartwarming experience for all.”
