Cheer for the champs: Kilpatrick Elementary wins county title

JONESBORO, Ga. – Walk into Kilpatrick Elementary School and you will immediately notice a trophy case full of pom poms, photos, and a pair of trophies. On a large piece of white paper the words “Grand Champs” are written in blue and red marker. The Kilpatrick Cougars and their faithful recently celebrated the school’s first ever cheerleading championship in March. The cheerleading program, led by coaches Amanada Harding and Doreen Wilson-Smith, has been in existence for just two years. Last season the Cougars finished second in the race for the grand championship. Now they are champions.

The county championship is broken up into three divisions: choreography, dance, and original performance. The three scores that Kilptarick amassed, one of which was the highest for original performance, led to their being crowned grand champions. Both coaches took time to talk to The Atlanta Voice on Tuesday morning during the last week of the school year. Both Harding and Wilson-Smith believe the championship is an example of the talent – both athletic and academic- within Kilpatrick Elementary School.

“It feels amazing. For me it means a lot for us to be champions and to be able to give back to this community and school is a great feeling,” Wilson-Smith said. An alumnus of Kilpatrick Elementary School, Wilson-Smith wore a fatigue KES shirt and still looks like she can perform the routines she now teaches her cheerleaders. A kindergarten teacher at Kilpatrick, Wilson-Smith has cheered her entire life, including through middle school, grade school, at Mt. Zion High School, where she was cheer captain, and while in college in Alabama at Tuskegee University . Cheerleading has always been a part of her life, she says.

“I have a passion for cheerleading,” she said. “It has always had my heart.”

Harding, a second grade teacher at Kilpatrick, has cheerleading in her blood as well. A cheerleader all through the lower grades and high school, Harding was a part of her college cheer squad at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. Having the opportunity to coach kids that for the most part have not had the training that she had while growing up, and still managing to win a county title is something Harding says she will never forget.

“It felt good because a lot of these kids never competed before,” Harding said. “That day felt like all of our hard work paid off. The long nights, the long practices. We succeeded, we achieved our goal.”

Wilson-Smith remembers being like some of the Kilpatrick cheerleaders, shy and quiet, before cheerleading changed her life.

“Cheerleading made me come out of my shell,” she recalled. “It teaches you discipline, gives you motivation and encouragement, especially in school. We tell them all of the time that they are leaders.”

Harding, a natural extrovert with a natural smile and booming personality, believes joining the cheerleading team has helped the kids in many ways.

“They are learning how to keep their bodies healthy, they learn discipline, and they are also behaving in school,” Harding said.

Coaching the team has also helped her as well. “It gives me something to look forward to everyday,” Harding explained. “I wake up every morning knowing I’m going to see my babies. I have a calling.”

Some of the cheerleaders, which includes a student in a wheelchair and a male student, will be back next year to defend their title. One of those cheerleaders that will be moving on is fifth-grader Jade Thomas.

“First, I thought we were going to lose, but when they called Kilpatrick for first place everybody was crying,” Thomas, 11, said.

Fourth-grader Juhmilia Holloway, 10, said she felt good about her team’s accomplishment during the competition. “When we finally got done with our performance I believed in my team. So when they said we made first place I was so proud.”

Asked why the girls joined the cheerleading squad two years ago, Thomas said, “I’m athletic and I like to do sports.” Holloway, who said she has been competing in cheerleading competitions since she was three, said, “When I’m cheering I get to express myself. It’s very natural to me.”

The next time Holloway and her teammates step on the basketball court or flag football field or for a school parade, they will do so as Clayton County Grand Champions.

“They helped put our school on the map,” said Harding. ‘We are one big family.”

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