Community Commentary: Costa Mesa High cheerleaders lauded

Admirable, commendable and praiseworthy are a few words I use to describe the Costa Mesa High School cheerleaders and their coach.

Along with keeping up good grades and their personal lives, these young ladies always find time for community involvement.

Coach Kori Johnson is the driving force behind this noteworthy squad. I asked her to explain the type of standards the cheerleaders are held to:

"All the girls are held to high standards and are expected to maintain and achieve high academics (3.0 or higher), take challenging classes (Honors and Advanced Placement), be role models on campus, never get in trouble at school, be on time and present in classes, be involved in extracurricular activities besides cheer, help in the community, be role models to younger girls in communities, help out at community events, cheer and or perform at community events, maintain a professional appearance, live a healthy lifestyle, work hard to maintain and better our teams skills and performances."

The girls have a growing list of accomplishments, including their recent teamwork with reality star Kendall Jenner serving Meals on Wheels for National School Spirit Day. Go to http://tinyurl.com/NSSD2011 to see the video.

With all of their endeavors, Johnson claims their greatest accomplishment was winning the American School Spirit Award in 2009, naming CMHS Cheer as one of the top programs in the nation.

As for future goals, Johnson's hope is for the team to go to nationals and place in the top five. I personally don't see this team letting anything stand in its way of greatness.

As a parent of one of Johnson's cheerleaders, I commend her with holding these girls to such high standards and teaching them the importance of helping others and making a positive difference. Kori is an example of the type of leader to whom you'd want to entrust your child — a leader who promotes positive character building. We need more of this in today's world. Keep up the great work.

MIKE BRUMBAUGH is a former chairman of the Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission.