Blog 1: Mentorship Experience

  Literal (Know)

·    Mentorship Log
·     Starlite Allstar Cheer and Dance Company - (626) 333-1145
      Grace Contreras (Owner) - (626) 333-8788

   Literal (Need to know)   

• What is the best way to deal with children 13 and under.
• How can one effectively get across a lesson without losing the attention of the pupil?
• What is the best way to gain the respect of your students?
• What are the key components to creating a successful cheer-leading routine?
• What is the best way to get a student to achieve the skills they want?
• Is there a better way to get through to those pupils who just can't grasp the lessons? 

   Interpretive

    This experience has only been the beginning to my coaching career. I'm sure that I will be helping out around starlite for many years to come, and maybe even take a team of my own one day. I have learned that  there is a certain way to talk to the younger girls, which consists of rewards as well as not being too lenient. The little ones seem to take in all the things we say when we reward them with water breaks. The older girls demand a more authoritative tone of voice. The trick to getting them to take in the lessons is playing around with them a little and making them enjoy what they're doing. It also doesn't hurt you to be the object of a crush. They seem to pay attention to you when you are smooth and authoritative. Being coached by two tough coaches has shown me that amazing things happen when you constantly push your pupils, when they know you support them, and don't let up; they respect you. This has been a wonderful learning experience and has only furthered my love and passion for this sport. I can't wait to see it get the recognition it deserves.

   Applied

     Well what I did is coach an up and coming Allstar Cheerleading team, which has been what I thought would be a good senior topic since sophomore year when I joined a team. The sport is so fascinating, passion driven and incredibly difficult. It hardly receives any recognition for what a rigorous workout it is, and I believe it should be exposed to the world as more then just the stereotyped, stuck up, slutty, skinny, and slightly stupid high school girls.  I think that having cheer as my topic would open a world of possibilities for components, experiments and papers. I believe that it is a very suitable topic as I will have access to many people to interview and tons of information. Coaching a cheer-leading team would even be a good route to go.