51 Fuller Royal Photography is looking for Class of 2026 Seniors who would like to be Senior Model Reps for the studio. The details and the signup form can be found on Fuller Royal Photography’s Facebook page. Or text 910.770.1834
52 Story and Photos By FULLER ROYAL ighteen-year-old Brenna McPherson has cheered since seventh grade. The Whiteville High School senior said her favorite cheer stunt is the Twist Up. “They are super fun and they draw the crowd’s attention very well,” she said. “My favorite skill would have to be my toe touch. I worked really hard to achieve hyper extension in my toe touch and it always catches the attention of a few people. “My favorite cheer is Get Fired Up,” she said. “It is tradition that it is the first cheer called at every single football game and really sets the atmosphere. “To stay fit, I involve myself in other sports, lift weights, and make sure to eat healthy,” McPherson said. “The most challenging part of being a cheerleader is definitely your ‘bad days,’”she said.” No matter how good of an athlete you are you will have bad days where you just can’t seem to execute anything and it can be really discouraging. “One challenging experience my team faced was losing one of our fliers,” she said. “To work around it, we moved a few people around and created new pyramids.” McPherson said the most important quality to have for cheering is confidence. “Being confident in yourself and your cheering abilities makes you a stronger athlete,” she said. “People also take notice of you more when you're confident in yourself while cheering.” McPherson said cheer had made her stronger. “Not only physically, but mentally,” she said. “I would often find myself agitated because things wouldn’t work out how I planned. Cheer made me realize that the best thing to do is to move Brenna McPherson believes in being positive E
53 on and find a new game plan. Cheer also has made me come out of my shell making me more confident than ever.” She said teamwork plays the biggest role in cheering. “Sometimes, teammates come in to practice or games not feeling the best and this can affect how stunts and cheers are executed,” she said. “Keeping each other hyped and supporting each other really makes a huge impact in productive practices and engaging games.” To balance the time commitment of cheerleading with her academics and other responsibilities, McPherson schedules every week. “I place time in each week to make sure I study and train enough,” she said. Her main motivation is her desire to cheer in college. ”In order to do that, you have to constantly work and get better,” she said. The advice she offers newer cheerleaders is “be yourself and to stay positive because not only will you grow more from that, you also will be having fun.” McPherson runs track and dances competitively. She enjoys studying and reading.
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Fuller Royal Photography is looking for Class of 2026 Seniors who would like to be Senior Model Reps for the studio. The details and the signup form can be found on Fuller Royal Photography’s Facebook page. Or text 910.770.1834
58 T Story and Photos By FULLER ROYAL his is Whiteville High School freshman Shalynn Soles’ first year as a cheerleader. Her favorite cheer stunts are the Straight Up to Teddy Bear and the Basket. “They are fun to do and they look very nice,” she said. “My favorite cheer is called Hustle.” she said. “I can get a deep and loud voice and it has a good rhythm and sounds nice.” To stay physically fit for cheering, she said she goes to the gym often and works at stretching quite a bit. “The most challenging part of being a cheerleader would be keeping up my stamina,” she said. She said that, sometimes, the most challenging experiences come from drama: “We always work it out.” “I would say the most important skill is to have good jumps,” she said. “It takes a while to get flexible.” “Cheerleading has helped me become more confident with my abilities, and as I dance, it has helped me learn new skills,” she said. Soles said teamwork plays a big part in cheering. “When you’re on the stand, you have to communicate, look neat and have a good time,” she said. “Supporting each other will help with trying to do new things or new stunts.” She said it’s sometimes difficult to balance Shalynn Soles loves the support her team shares
59 cheerleading with other aspects of school, especially when arriving back from an away game, late in the evening “but, it’s all worth it.” She said she is motivated to push herself because “I want to do my best in cheer and improve all my skills to learn more things.” Her advice to new cheerleaders is “be confident and be yourself. I enjoyed cheer so much more when I started being myself.” Soles dances at Amy’s Academy of Dance Arts. “I am also a part of the high school band,” she said. “Usually, those things take up most of my time. Outside of those, I am at home watching television or I am with my family.”
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Fuller Royal Photography is looking for Class of 2026 Seniors who would like to be Senior Model Reps for the studio. The details and the signup form can be found on Fuller Royal Photography’s Facebook page. Or text 910.770.1834
Story and Photos By FULLER ROYAL est Columbus School sixthgraders Elizabeth and Audrey Herring are twins. This is their first year of cheering. The sisters said their favorite stunt is going into an extension and coming back to a prep into a cradle. They said the stunt looks great and makes the crowd go wild. Their favorite cheer is Let’s Go West because it lets the crowd know the team is about to do stunts. The Herrings said they eat well, get enough rest and stay active to remain physically fit and prepared for the demands of cheerleading. For both, the most challenging part of being a cheerleader is learning so many new cheers and stunts as new cheerleaders, and making sure the flyers don’t fall out of a stunt. They said said the team has overcome several challenges. Once, a flyer fell during a stunt. The entire team had to run laps because everyone wasn’t where they were supposed to be to ensure that the flyer didn’t get hurt. The team quickly learned to make sure they pay attention at all time. The twins said the most important quality for a cheerleader to have is to be a good representative of the school in both academics and spirit. The Herrings said cheering has taught them to be more trusting and to listen more. With cheerleading, everyone has to trust each other during the stunts and team members must listen constantly to make sure they know what they’re supposed to be doing. The Herrings said cheerleading is a teamwork sport. If cheerleaders don’t work Herring sisters learn team trust and cheers 64 W
together all of the time they’re not going to look good, or someone might get hurt performing a stunt. The sisters said that with help from their parents, they keep a schedule of what they have to, so they know if it’s a busy day. On those days, they try to do as much as possible. They said they find cheering to be fun. They enjoy getting to know more people and making new friends. The Herrings would tell other new cheerleaders to always believe in themselves and to try their best in anything that they do. When they are not cheering, Elizabeth and Audrey attend church and participate in youth and children’s activities They take piano and dance competitively on teams in tap, jazz, lyrical and clogging at Amy’s Academy of Dance. They play soccer with Western Prong Baptist Church, but they hope to play middle school soccer next year. 65
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71 Fuller Royal Photography is looking for Class of 2026 Seniors who would like to be Senior Model Reps for the studio. The details and the signup form can be found on Fuller Royal Photography’s Facebook page. Or text 910.770.1834
72 Leah Hooks is motivated to improve cheer skills Story and Photos By FULLER ROYAL eah Hooks began cheering in seventh grade. The Whiteville High School sophomore said her favorite stunt is the Rounded-Off Backhand Spring. Hooks’ favorite cheer is the school’s fight song. “It energizes the crowd because everyone loves it,” she said. When it comes to staying fit for cheering, she said, “to be honest, I really don’t do anything.” She said the most challenging part of being a cheerleader is “pushing yourself to be the best you can be.” Hooks said the most important qualities for a cheerleader to have include the ability to work as a team and to maintain a good attitude. “Cheer has enabled me to have more confidence in myself,” she said. “You have to have a lot to get up there and cheer on Friday nights.” And how does she balance the time commitment of cheerleading with her academics or other responsibilities? “It’s kind of a challenge, but for practice it’s not that hard,” she said. “When we have a game we get home late and it is a challenge because you get home so late.” She is motivated to continue improving and push herself by “just L
73 getting better at the sport I love.” She said having a positive attitude is important for anyone new to cheerleading or who is considering joining the team. Hooks also enjoys playing soccer and competitively dancing.
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77 Fuller Royal Photography is looking for Class of 2026 Seniors who would like to be Senior Model Reps for the studio. The details and the signup form can be found on Fuller Royal Photography’s Facebook page. Or text 910.770.1834
78 Story and Photos By FULLER ROYAL allie Jacobs is a junior at East Columbus Junior-Senior High School. She has been a cheerleader since seventh grade. “My favorite stunt is the Ladder Stunt because my group has fun doing it and my flyer looks great going up in a ladder,” she said. “My favorite cheer or chant is the What Side, East Side call and response cheer that gets our crowd super excited,” she said. She stays fit for cheering with “workouts throughout the year and summer with our coach and teammates.” She said the most challenging part of being a cheerleader is practicing “patience with your teammates even when you don’t always agree.” “A challenging experience I would say was when we went through UCA camp,” she said. “The stunts that we did – some could perform and some had trouble – made competition between us. We had to remember we were teammates and work together.” Jacobs said school spirit is the most important quality for a cheerleader to have. She said that cheerleading makes it easier to have confidence because “if you can cheer in front of your whole school, then you are stepping Callie Jacobs believes in patience, teamwork C
79 outside of your comfort zone.” ”Teamwork is so important because if you can’t work together you won’t look good to your audience,” Jacobs said. “We support each other by always helping when we’re needed and being encouraging.” She said it is important to practice good time management, reserving time for school and academics when not cheering. Jacobs said she is motivated to improve and push herself because she sees herself as a good leader and a role model to the younger girls. She said new cheerleaders should be “confident in yourself and always be nice to everyone.” When she’s not cheering, she likes to hang out with her friends and to focus on her schoolwork.
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82 Fuller Royal Photography is looking for Class of 2026 Seniors who would like to be Senior Model Reps for the studio. The details and the signup form can be found on Fuller Royal Photography’s Facebook page. Or text 910.770.1834
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84 Monzelle Campbell - A Life in Football 2019 Portrait Session 910.770.1834 • 622 South Madison Street • Whiteville Weʼre celebrating 35 Years