What’s recently happened?
The Morton High School (MHS) cheer team recently turned heads at Highland’s 16th Annual Fourth of July parade. Starting at 32nd & Bryant Street, then ending at Hirshorn Park, the team danced their way through the streets with proud smiles adorned on their faces. The team received an invite to be in this annual parade, and it was their first appearance as the new and improved MHS cheer team.
As always, with the MHS cheer team, practice makes perfect, and perfection starts with precision. The team has been spending their summer preparing for the beginning of the season. Giving a warm welcome to three new coaches as well as two junior coaches, this team is looking better than ever.
“We will always be more than a cheer team. It’s more of a family thing,” Junior Coach Aaliyah Santos said.
Counting down the days until the first day of school, and most importantly the first game, these girls show all the hard work they’re putting in this summer.
“You will never know your limits until you push them,” Junior Coach Shanyla Gaskew said.
Being a team that can do it all and look good while doing it is the biggest goal for the MHS cheer team, taking on stunts, flips, and new cheers to keep the surprises coming and the fans at the edge of their seats. Even keeping things original at the parade with choreography from their very own Coach Bree.
“We’re a family. We unite as one. It’s becoming a sisterhood. When we say MG4L, we really mean it,” Santos said.
The excitement held for the new upcoming season is just racing through each member of the team. Ending every meeting with their signature “MG4L” to not only emphasize the family bond within the team but to warn their competitors that the MHS cheer team is a force to be reckoned with.
What’s coming up?
Free back-to-school events are taking over the end of the month into August. What better way to get back in the groove of school than with good times and free goodies?
Starting with the fifth annual Summer Block Party on July 23, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., free backpacks, school supplies, food, and games will be offered to the Northwest Indiana & South Chicagoland community. Free back-to-school items will also be given to the first 100 kids that show up to the event with their parents. The event is hosted by the New Life Community Church at 1116 Hoffman St.
Then spicing things up with a kid's summer fest that will provide a fun experience for all ages on August 6, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. It’s a street fest to close out the summer with games, face painting, horseback riding and so much more and will be located at 7051 Kennedy Ave.
On August 11 from 5 to 7 p.m., the Life Point Church will be throwing prizes out left and right. They’ll have it all, from food to games and even including a few school backpack giveaways. Don’t miss out on these back-to-school basics, as well as a fun chance to get out of the house and say hello to some sun. This event will be located at 7337, Kennedy Ave with parking available at 7350 Kennedy Ave.
A Back 2 School pop up shop will be hosted by Jay B’s Blessed Treasures on August 13 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. This pop-up shop will include over 20+ vendors selling merchandise. They’re also giving out free school supplies as well as free back to school haircuts & hairstyles. If you’re also looking for some fun, bouncy houses and face painting will be available for your enjoyment. Come out and support Jay B’s Blessed Treasures first back-to-school pop-up shop at 7051 Kennedy Ave.
Community member spotlight:
A hardworking student at MHS by the name of Zion Collins has spent her high school career curating a story worth remembering. She spends her every day balancing the real world with a dip of self-expression by attending cheer practice three times a week, completing online school courses, and working a job to prepare herself for her senior year.
Collins never thought her senior year would come by so quickly. The next upcoming year may possibly be overwhelming with so many new changes. Luckily with all the previous tips and tricks her superiors, as well as members of the class of 2023, have instilled within her she’s found a sense of comfort in all things change. Collins is someone who loves lists, organizing, planning, and prepping for the best of times.
“Once you realize you can do something, it would be difficult to live with yourself if you didn’t do it,” Collins said.
To Collins, high school has been nothing but a surreal experience to her. There is no more watching and waiting to see who she will become. She is now looking up colleges, studying different languages, drafting essays, and even creating scholarship templates in her free time. Collins is trying to make a list that every anxious teenager around the world wants to conquer.
“If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it,” Collins said, quoting American novelist Toni Morrison.
With so little time and so much to do Collins hopes to inspire young minds that it is never too late to change your mind. She has been waiting for the last three years to put a pin in something she loves to do. This summer she really took the time to explore her options and take part in new things.
“People tell me to slow down, I have time. Although, now that time has flown and I'm applauding my past self for finally putting in the hard work,” Collins said.
Taking on the world with a confident stride and a supportive system of family and friends, Collins is preparing for it all. All the research she’s been doing will surely pay off in the long run, not to mention the people who have been overseeing her success from the beginning and rooting for her. For Collins it’s only the start of it all and who knows, this school year could change everything.