Iowa School for the Deaf cheerleading team gets national recognition
The Iowa School for the Deaf’s four-member cheerleading team won the Great Plains School for the Deaf (GPSD) Cheer Championship for the first time in history last month.
[Clip of cheerleading team] Credit: Renca Dunn
The co-coach is Renca Dunn, who many of you know as a “The Daily Moth” reporter!
The cheerleading team received a lot of recognition in local, state, and national media. They were recently featured on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir.
[Clip] Credit: ABC World News
For the cheerleading team, the recognition is important because ISD is a “small” deaf school. Here are comments from the team.
Kalista: I’m Kalista. I’m a senior.
Ashley: I’m Ashley. I’m a sophomore.
Rifenta: I’m Rifenta. I’m a freshman.
Britany: I’m Britany. I’m a senior.
Alex: What does it mean to you to help ISD become recognized? How do you feel about that?
Kalista: At first, it was surreal. We couldn’t believe we were on the news. Then it felt really nice to be recognized, especially for this small deaf school. It feels really nice and it is an awesome experience for us, and also to help other deaf schools to get recognized as well.
Ashley: Yes, I agree.
Rifenta: It was my first time and when the coaches told me about ABC News and going viral, I was so excited!
Ashley: I feel like we are “famous” cheerleaders! We’ve gone viral, so we are famous! Lol.
Britany: Yeah. It is my first time. I’ve never had that kind of viral moment. So it was like “Wow, we made it.” I felt emotional and at the same time, we felt like we were successful.
[Clip of cheerleading team] Credit: Renca Dunn
Kalista: There are about 2,000 deaf children in Iowa and there are only 100 students here. Wow. I’ve been here for five years. I’ve gone to several deaf schools and I’ve grown a lot here. I feel very connected here and having that moment of making a historic win, it means a lot to me. I’m sure it means a lot to everyone here.
Britany: It’s spreading awareness so more deaf students can come here. To tell them that we’ve gone viral, it could make others who may feel isolated in public schools realize that there is a deaf school where students are the same as them. It’s to tell the Deaf community that we have these things, we have access, and you can do anything.
[Clip of cheerleading team] Credit: Renca Dunn
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Alex: Here are comments from the co-coaches, Renca Dunn and Megan Shama.
Megan Shama: ISD is a small deaf school. The total number of students, from ages 3 to 21, is only 99. That’s it. There are only 35 students in high school. Our community is very supportive, yes, but overall in Iowa — actually the U.S. — there is deep concern about legislation being passed and what other government officials are talking about. It’s scary. This has to do with deaf schools. The number is small. Is it important? It’s obviously very important. This is an opportunity to spotlight our community, our school, and show why it is important to treasure deaf schools. A place for those students to have an identity, community, communication, and everything involved with a deaf school. This is an opportunity to show why it is important.
Renca Dunn: Yes. And going viral, they did not even expect that at all. It just happened. For me, it is also about representation. Hearing people out there had many different questions. They were amazed at how we used drums, that there are deaf schools in different states, it was so interesting to them. Maybe for us in the Deaf community, it’s a normal thing, but for hearing people, it’s new to them. So it is nice to expose and educate them. So going viral is not just about ISD and the historic win, it’s not just inspiring them, but it is also a win for the Deaf community. It is a win for other deaf schools in the U.S. It is a win for them and for us. Representing the Deaf community, representing us all. So it was very unexpected but a very welcome victory. That kind of thing.
Alex: Thank you to the ISD Cheerleading team for your time and congratulations on spreading recognition of the school.
https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/deaf-cheerleaders-wow-crowds-championship-97432358