The Stampede Spirit Club has had a fast start to the year. They started this summer with a couple fundraisers during the county fair. They ran the moonwalk activity and sold pop/water for the Ag Society’s fair barbecue. Then the club kicked off the school year with a get together at the football field with food and games. Next, they hosted the homecoming bonfire, which had a tremendous turnout! At the beginning of this year, they had a mascot costume donated to the group and have already introduced the mascot to Hi-Line fans at the home games and homecoming.
“It looks to be a fun year,” said LeahAnn Brell, Stampede director. Brell continued, “Last year was a little rough because we didn’t feel we could plan our normal activities. We didn’t want the fun stuff to be the reason games got canceled or school ended up closing, so we didn’t do a lot of extra things until the end of the year. The kids said they had a hard time wanting to cheer with masks on and so far this year, we haven’t had to battle that. Everyone is ready to let loose and have a good time supporting their fellow students.”
The Stampede cheering section attends all the home games and some away games to support the Bulls. They also try to have a pep rally at school each quarter. State send offs are something the Stampede also likes to do. “We hope we get to do a lot of those this year!” said Brell.
“The Stampede has been really enthusiastic and jumping right into this year. That’s what this group is all about and when school spirit is up like that, good things happen. I’m excited to see that continue throughout the year,” explained Brell. “We also have a new sponsor helping me this year, Bobbie Hort. She’s been great about stepping in and has had some fresh ideas also. It’s going to be a fun year.”
The Stampede's goal this year is to get the mascot going strong and continue to look for new ideas and ways to motivate everyone. Brell explained, “We’re going to get on a more regular schedule with our meetings this year. That’s another thing we cut back on last year due to COVID and not being able to bring in food like we normally do.”
“The past five years of sponsoring this group has been a great experience and we’ve watched the school spirit really grow,” added Brell. “Every year different individuals surprise us with what they’re willing to try and watching them step up into leadership roles has been a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing where year six takes us!”