“When I was younger dancing was one of my favorite things, and still is,” said Cheerleading Co-Captain Jennise Bolls. “I had never done cheer before but, in middle school, I joined my school’s cheerleading team. I didn’t plan to go on with it in high school, but in eighth grade I came to an Armijo game and became super interested in the cheerleading program here!”

COVID-19 made it difficult to practice sheer. “We had basically no season during the quarantine period and when we came back this school year it was hard to spread the info out about tryouts,” she said. “So our team was a lot smaller, and we had a shorter period of time to prepare for football season.”

She fondly remembers the senior night basketball game in 2020! “We performed halftime at this game and it was the last game with the seniors I had bonded with that year! Our halftime actually went viral on TikTok with 2 million views. This was memorable because I helped choreograph this dance with my captain Anya, and my big cheer sister Julianna!”

Bolls would encourage others to try out for cheer when given the chance. “Armijo’s cheer program changed my life!” she said. “I was given a group of girls who became my sisters, basically family. It gives me a safe space to be myself and express myself through things I love like dancing! It has also helped my confidence and helped me to stand up for myself.”

In spite of all the positives she has experienced through cheer, she does not plan to continue participating in cheer in college, but she has considered her future. First, she plans to spend two years taking classes in a community college and hopefully transferring to UC Berkeley. She plans to become a teacher but also wants to pursue acting.

While COVID impacted her cheer season, she did see it as helpful, in a way. ”Grading during COVID was a lot easier on the student so it was easier to keep my grades up,” Bolls said.

While she’s been at Armijo, she has been part of Leadership and has also done theatre at the Missouri Street Youth Theatre. “I love to act and dance!” she said.

She sees her parents, Ms. Hill and “my Coach Tee” (Coach Tonya Sias) as some of her role models, but perhaps she serves as role models for her brother Loki (13) and sister Elisa (7). At the very least, they get to see her doing something she enjoys, and that goes a long way to encouraging others.