Thinking Up Good Ideas
On November 24th, 2009, the Oprah show produced an episode called “Headline-Making Heroes”. Honorees included Captain Sullenberger (aka Sully) who safely landed his plane on the Hudson River (across from the gendance office) and members of the US military returning home from Iraq.
Among those heroes were the teenage trendsetters of the Sparkle Squad. Oprah said: “They're cheering on the human spirit.” After volunteering at the Special Olympics, high school cheerleader Sarah Herr and her teammate, Sarah Cronk, wanted to create a cheerleading squad for girls with special needs. They formed the Spartan Sparkles, a squad made up of girls ages 8 to 15 with a range of developmental disabilities, from autism to Down syndrome, in their hometown of Bettendorf, Iowa. This program was the first of its kind at a high school, giving these girls the chance to go from the sidelines to center stage.
Today, the Sparkle Effect is being sprinkled all over the nation. (Oprah’s not the only one who loves them.) Next gen star, Miley Cyrus, personally invited the Sparkles to be VIP guests at her Indianapolis show: “You guys are so awesome, and I just want to thank you personally for all the good that you have done,” Miley told the girls. At the end of her concert, Miley invited every member of the squad onstage to help her sing the inspirational finale song, “The Climb”. “These girls are heroes to me,” she said.
After our gendance premiere, we called them to follow up and see how they were doing. We learned they’re ready to spread the Sparkle Effect to thousands in the running for $25,000 for Pepsi’s Refresh Project, which aims to fund “Good Ideas.” Voting ends February 28th, so vote for the Sparkle Effect today! And in true good spirit, the Sparkles even helped their rival high school start their own squad and raise money for uniforms.
Sarah Herr believes anyone can make a difference, no matter how old or young you are: “It's really given all of us a powerful voice. We've learned that even though we're teenagers, we can really make things happen.”
