Cheerleaders fundraise to perform at Sugar Bowl
Tonyce Jackson, Brittnee Beccue, Perry Bailey and Kensley Ortega are trying to raise funds for Sugar Bowl performance by holding a bake sale at a local Walmart.
Kensley Ortega, Perry Bailey, Brittnee Beccue and Tonyce Jackson are trying to fundraise by holding a bake sale at a local Walmart.
Topeka High Cheer team was the only group in Kansas to be invited to perform at the 2016 Sugar Bowl. The squad has been doing various things to raise the funds to go.
The squad’s cheer coaches were notified about being invited to the 2016 Allstate Sugar Bowl Football game during April of 2015. The coaches were overwhelmed by such an opportunity.
“I was just excited to be able to offer this once in a lifetime opportunity to our team!” said JV coach Megan Niedfeldt. “When we got the call inviting us they had said they heard a lot of good things about our program over the last year”.
Although when they found out the pricing for each cheerleader or yell leader to attend they realized it was going to have to be a lot more work than they intended. For each team member to attended they would individually have to pay about $1,000 dollars not including transportation.
“I know it cost a lot of money, however this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said the head coach of the Topeka High Cheer Squad. “We are the only school from Kansas participating. So I have high hopes we will have a lot of support from our community.”
Many of the cheerleaders are very excited about being a part of this experience and are willing to take on the challenge of trying to raise enough money to attend.
“I’m totally okay with all the fundraising because we always find a way to have fun and work at the same time,” said Raelexis Fredrick who is a Topeka High Cheerleader. “It feels great to know that we worked so hard and got rewarded by being picked to be the only school in Kansas to go.”
The cheer team has already done some major fundraising events including two bakes sales and sending out sponsorship letters. Some future fundraising events will include a fall garage sale and a babysitting night that should take place sometime later in the semester.
“Topeka High has so many connections and people sometimes don’t realize that,” said Megahn Scheppy a cheerleader at Topeka High. “During bake sales people will donate money just because we’re from Topeka High.”
