Madison Minor Cornerstone 10-10:50 Rough Outline Name: Madison Minor General Purpose: To INFORM Specific Purpose: To tell

people how sports can bring people together as a family whether theyre related by blood or not. Thesis Statement: Cheer dinners kept a tradition going, built a stronger bond as a family, and taught me to never give up or lose spirit.

I.

Introduction A. Attention Getter: Screw fake friends, these girls are the real things. Reveal Topic: Before cheering for each football game, my team and I would get together to have a big dinner. Over the years, this tradition became increasingly important to my teammates and me. It brought us together because we would get ready, eat, do each others hair and makeup and car pool to the game. Over time, we all became a big family. I have never been so close to a group of people in my life. In the years that I cheered varsity football, we only won one game, but our student section and us cheerleaders had the most spirit for our team that Ive ever seen. Establish Credibility: I made this family because I have been a cheerleader for five years and cheered my J-hawks on at every football game. Preview (ends with transition into body): I would do anything to go back to high school and cheer with my family one more season. I miss the pre-game meals, the chilly air, and chugging hot chocolate at half time to stay warm. Cheer dinners kept a tradition going, built a stronger bond as a family, and taught me to never give up or lose spirit.

B.

C.

D.

II. A.

Body Major Point 1: Continuing a tradition

Madison Minor Cornerstone 10-10:50 1. Internal Preview: Pre-game dinners kept a tradition going. The cheerleaders at Jefferson have had pre-game meals for many seasons before mine. 2. Guts: A. In order to host a successful dinner, you would choose a theme for the meal. In the past we have had breakfast for dinner, finger-foods including chicken nuggets, tator tots, pizza rolls, etc., grill outs, Italian night (including nothing other than Zio Johnos), or walking taco night. Although these meals were not necessarily gourmet or home-cooked by our families, just being able to all get together and bond each week is what made us appreciate the dinners most. B. In order to tell you all how much the dinners meant to my team and not just me, I texted all my teammates and asked what they thought of the dinners. My friend Alex McPhail responded with, It was a tradition that we upheld and it has continued this year as well and it is still bringing the squad closer together. My roommate Amanda Khader, who also cheered on my team said, I really looked forward to dinners because we could all take time out of our busy lives to get together for a meal, and it also got us excited for our game. C. Apart from just eating together, we all crammed into a bedroom to get ready and do each others hair and makeup. Whether it was braiding someones bangs or tying the perfect bow in their hair, each one of us needed the help of another teammate while beautifying ourselves. 3. Internal Summary: The tradition my team holds of having pre-game dinners is an important one. I would never have been so close with my family if it were not for us all taking time to sit down and spend quality time together each week. B. Major Point 2: Building a family bond TRANSITION: In addition, 1. Internal Preview: Cheer dinners made us a family. Not only did we need a strong bond to cheer our games, but also when we competed in competitions and went to camps. Guts:

2.

Madison Minor Cornerstone 10-10:50 A. Football is only the first season of the year for cheerleaders. We have football, basketball, wrestling, summer cheer camps, and competition. B. Building stunts SAFELY requires working together with your bases, backs, fronts and flyers. Without teamwork, nothing is accomplished and accidents do happen. C. Without cheer dinners to bring us closer, there is no way our team could have achieved what we did. My team placed third at state, in the co-ed division with only two boys and one tumbler against teams with at least eight boys and all of the team being able to tumble. We were also invited to dance in the half-time show of the Liberty Bowl last year in Memphis, Tennessee when Tulsa played Iowa State. We were also invited to downtown Chicago and performed in the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, and had many more memorable trips. D. Raechel Rickleffs, another teammate of mine said, The dinners gave us each a sense of trust with each other. We didnt hang a whole lot outside of football games but when there was a dinner we all gathered together and it brought us closer. Cause gosh knows we all love food and it was something to look forward to. 3. Internal Summary: Spending all my time with these girls year-round made us feel like a family. Without the close relationship between us all, we would never have made any of the accomplishments we did.

C.

Major Point 3: Never losing spirit/never giving up TRANSITION: Most importantly, 1. Internal Preview: Cheerleading taught me to never lose hope or spirit in anything I do. This lesson was pounded into my head for many reasons. 2. Guts: A. For one, my high-school team only won one game in my five years and it was during my senior year. B. Many people asked me, How can you cheer for a team that sucks so much? Arent you embarrassed? To this question, I always answered that I love my team and that I still have school spirit for the J-hawks. Jeffersons cheerleaders and student section, The Stu Cru, have a great reputation for keeping up spirit at each game.

Madison Minor Cornerstone 10-10:50 C. By the end of the fourth quarter, the home side of Kingston stadium would almost all be in tears. We knew how bad the team wanted to get a W and how hard they tried in practice and on the turf. D. My high school was not good at sports. We were good at a few things like show choir, marching band, and SOMETIMES boys basketball. The whole city laughed at our reputation in losing at everything we do. I still bleed blue and am proud of my school no matter what reputation others give it. 3. Internal Summary: Cheerleading taught me to never give up or lose spirit. We cheered for our boys no matter what the outcome. The strong bond we made made it easier to keep going and encourage each other to hold our hopes high. III. Conclusion TRANSITION: In closing, A. Review: Cheerleading is what made my high school career worthwhile. Created by sitting around a table eating, this is where I met almost all of my best friends and made a family that I rely on. We worked hard, and always cheered on our boys despite our long losing streak. The tradition of football dinners made a huge impact on my years of cheer. B. Reinforce Thesis Statement: They kept a tradition going, built a stronger bond as a family, and taught me to never give up or lose spirit. C. Compelling conclusion: I hope that one day, if you have not already had a similar experience, you will find a group of people who may not be related by blood to you, but make you part of a family. Family is whom you choose to call family. I would like to end with a quote I found by Henry Ford that summarizes what cheerleading dinners meant to me. Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success.