Cheer teams are an important part of any high school athletic program. Not only do they cheer at football and basketball games and help keep the fans and community involved, but they also compete hard at their own competitions. Lawton MacArthur head cheer coach, Dawna Schettler says that her cheer squad are involved in a number of things other than cheer.

“We have several multi-sport athletes,” Schettler said. “Girls that hold leadership positions outside of cheer, several on competitive cheer squads, and we are strong overall academically as a team.”

Schletter’s team does more than just cheer at Highlander sporting events. They have won their fair share of awards at different competitions. They placed fifth at state. Team members Teia Rice and Alexis Moore were named All- Americans and Moore was also Top All-American at the University of Oklahoma camp.

Senior Teia Rice is a co-captian on the squad and she enjoys representing her school and cheering alongside her teammates.

“The pride of the student body at MacArthur has made it easy to lead the crowd while supporting our amazing teams at their games,” Rice said. “We have a great cheer team. Our ability to adapt to change and improve from any obstacles we face makes us better and helps our team chemistry.”

While they enjoy cheering on the Highlanders, that is not the only thing the team does. Schettler says that her team does a number of things together to build team unity while also spreading school spirit.

“One thing we do is a fun team photo shoot,” she said. “We have done axe throwing, Relay for Life, and we also pack the stands for Unified Volleyball.”

The head coach of the cheer squad, Schettler is in her twentieth season leading the team. She is joined by her assistant coaches who also have a lot of experience. Kathy Saunders is in her fifth season, Angela Cordes is in her sixth year, and Mickayla Corvi has been in for three years.

(Photo by IFH Photography)