Seniors Te’a King, Homecoming Queen Kelsey Varner and Brelyn Spears pass out candy in the Fountain City Christmas Parade on Dec. 5.

By Steve Williams

Cheers for the Central High School cheerleading squad!

According to its coach, Jackie Raley, her “team” has given “well over 500 community service hours” since the spring of 2015.

“The cheerleaders do a variety of community service each year and are always open to adding new events to our calendar,” said Raley via e-mail.

The Bobcat cheerleaders always seem to be their busiest in the holiday season. This year has been no different.

“On Nov. 28 we volunteered at the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital Fantasy of Trees by painting faces and helping the children make pot holders of their hands and feet,” said Raley.

The Central cheerleaders participated in the annual Fountain City Christmas Parade on Dec. 5, along with the CHS band, the school’s football, basketball, softball and swim teams and the “Bobcat youth cheerleaders,” noted Raley.

Central’s cheerleaders also were scheduled to be “ringing bells for 10 hours” at Kroger in Fountain City for the Salvation Army this past Saturday.

Earlier this year, on Oct. 24, Raley said Central’s cheerleading squad volunteered at the Race for the Cure “in honor of my mom Paulette Lay, who is a 21-year breast cancer survivor, former cheer mom Kathy Cummins and current cheer mom, Deborah Mauldin.”

On Nov. 14th the CHS cheer team volunteered at the Fountain City Food City’s “open house” all day by helping sell the Food Ministry bags, assisting the elderly with their groceries and giving away free samples throughout the store, said Coach Raley.