On Friday, Sept. 14, before the Varsity football game against Douglass High School and the 2023 Wall of Fame Inductees were honored, a much younger group of Golden Bears took to the field.

To celebrate Primary School and Lower School Spirit Night, 87 aspiring cheerleaders in grades PK3-5, known as the Little Bears and the Cheer Bears, performed the routine they'd been practicing all week with the help of the Upper School's Varsity and Junior Varsity squads. 

The performance, always a crowd-pleaser for attendants of the game, not only helps the young students learn fun new skills, but also helps them form friendships with the "big kids" on campus whom they look up to as role models. The Little Bears and Cheer Bears programs also raise donations for the Rally Foundation, which supports pediatric cancer research. 

"Not only is it for a good cause, but it also teaches the little ones leadership skills and allows some of them to step outside their comfort zone," Ms. Emily Parsons, Primary School Media Specialist and Assistant Cheerleading Coach, said. "I love being a part of it because it's so fun to see the Primary School students I teach interact with the cheerleaders. They really look up to them."