The six seniors are fundraising for their trip abroad, to perform in the London New Year’s Day Parade

ATASCADERO — This summer, while attending cheer camp, six of Atascadero High School’s (AHS) seniors tried out and made it onto the All-American Cheer Team. The cheerleaders will represent AHS by performing at the London New Year’s Day Parade in London, England. 

“Six of our seniors decided to try out, and six of them made it, which is pretty unheard of,” stated head cheer coach April Schaefer. “Usually, they take a small percentage of your team, like two or three girls have made it every year. This is the first year all of our girls have made it. Which is kind of cool.” 

Cheerleaders Sydney Beeman, Emma MacKinga, Emma Blais, Nikki Hart, Cierra Savoy, and Rachael Gee will be headed to London from Dec. 26 to Jan. 3.

“They [the team] will fly to London, and then while they’re there, they do get to tour a little bit with the Cheer Association,” Schaefer said. “They have special tours they do, but then they’re also practicing for the parade, and through the parade, they are doing a dance in the freezing cold. So they dance throughout the whole parade, and they also have opportunities where they get to throw out some stunts. They’re exploring London but also practicing while they’re there, which is pretty cool.”

In total, the six AHS cheerleaders will need to raise slightly over $22,000 in total for all of them to make the trip to England. Each of the girls is raising money independently and looking to the community to ensure they have enough funds to get all six girls to the London New Year’s Day Parade. Over the next four months, the girls, who have been cheerleading together since kindergarten, will be out in the community raising money.

“I’m so excited that they [the girls] have got together and that they’re supporting each other in the fundraising,” Schaefer added. “All of them are going no matter what is kind of what their attitude is right now. I just appreciate that because I think it’s a big deal. They all know each other’s circumstances, so they know who needs more money, and they’re just being super supportive of each other.”

Starting Aug. 29 and running through Sept. 2, the AHS Varsity Cheerleaders will be selling popcorn through Double Good, where 50 percent of the proceeds will go directly to getting them to London, and the popcorn will come directly to your door. To buy popcorn go to popup.doublegood.com/s/ygp21o88

For all other ways to support the six AHS cheerleaders going to London, contact April Schaefer at aprilschaefer@atasusd.org.

On top of running online fundraisers, Beeman, MacKinga, Blais, Hart, Savoy, and Gee will be out in the community, attending the Farmers Market and more over the next four months and taking in-person donations.

“They’ll be out and about, so just look for our uniforms, and it’s probably them,” concluded Schaefer.