The St. James Cheerleaders have pride in not only their school, but in themselves.
The Tiger cheerleaders are coached by Becky Oprean and currently have 10 girls on varsity and five on jayvee.
The team practices as the gym is available. In the summer the team holds practice from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. every weekday morning. The cheerleaders also compete for three days in July at a camp in Springfield, Mo.
In July 2009 the squad attended camp for the Universal Cheerleading Association and won first-place in dance and second-place in cheer. The team also won the leadership award, which is voted on by the competing squads.
The girls also competed at the Gateway Regional competition in St. Louis at Timberland High School in December.
Oprean said the team cheers for the varsity football games and the girls and boys basketball games. The jayvee squad covers the girls and boys jayvee games.
Tryouts for next year's squad begin in April and end in March.
Opren explained she would not be returning as coach next year but students may contact her at roprean@stjschools.org for more information on cheerleading and tryouts.
