This past semester has been quite a project for the ORCO in Communities class. We attended Hendersonville twice to work on two different project with the Hendersonville Raptors which is apart of VSA arts Tennessee. The Raptors are a competitive cheerleading team made up of individuals with disabilities and have won several cheering titles in only four years.
The first project was to create small footballs for the team to decorate to give out to the MTSU football team at the October 20 game against Aarkansas State University. The second trip to Hendersonville was to create a banner with the cheerleading team to hang up at the game.
I made alot of friends on the cheerleading team. The two trips to Hendersonville paid off when the October 20th game approached. The cheerleading team came all the way to Murfreesboro to cheer at halftime of the game. We as a class sat with them throughout the first half of the game until their big debut with the MTSU co-ed squad cheerleaders. Our project was a success with the Hendersonville cheerleaders.
My conrtibutions for this project were just as simple as having a buddy on the cheerleading team and being a good role model for the team. I helped them create the footballs and painting the banner. I also went out on the field with the cheerleading team to help lead them through the cheer. They were super nervous and did not want to go out there without me or two of my other class mates. We had a good time and enjoyed working with the Raptors.
I think the project has really brought out everybody's individual strengths, and has been a positive learning experience for us all. I have enjoyed the hands on experience as well as knowing that I am making a difference in the community.
