The Parkettes have been a part of St. Louis Park schools since 2011, and according to the Parkettes coach Linnea Donahue, they are looking to shake up their 5th season by adding acrobatic moves, their first male team member,and centering around a smaller team.

“Now that we have a male on our team we are able to increase of level of student performance, allowing us to try a lot of fun new moves” said Donahue.

Along with the first ever male member, the team includes nine girls. Though team is smaller than it has been in the past, sophomore Amy Grandoz said she was still excited to inspire her team.

“I’m ready to help keep the team motivated and help them with the cheers” said Gradoz. “I think we are going to have a really good season”.

Senior Melissa Voigt, who has been a member of the team for a year and a half, is most excited for the new acrobatic stunts they have planned. These new moves include elevators, where one girl is held up in the air and spun around by her team members.

“I’m excited to do elevators and other more complicated moves” said Voigt. “Some people are afraid to try the more complicated moves but I think we will work through it together as a team”.

According to Donahue, the team was not able to perform these more complicated moves because they did not have any members who were strong enough to safely execute them. Now, with Junior John Gardner on the team, superintendent Robert Metz allowed the team to attempt these new acrobatic cheers.

As well as new cheers, the Parkettes are planning to purchase new cheer uniforms this season.

“We have ordered more traditional cheer uniforms” said Donahue. “We have done fundraising over the summer to pay for them, as well as hopefully receiving donations from sport teams in the school.”

Because these more challenging cheers require extra muscle, Voigt and Gradoz both said they encourage more guys to step up and become Parkettes.

“We would love more boys for our stunts” said Voigt. “It would help us be able to do more interesting things”.