Foundation Academy hosts ring ceremony for champion cheer team

Foundation Academy held a ring ceremony Tuesday, April 26, at its Tilden Campus to give its cheer team the school’s first state championship rings. 

“I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve all achieved and the support that we received this year,” Cheerleading Program Director Rachel Carey said. “It’s surreal. This is my third year here, but I feel like all the groundwork of the first two years has really paid off this year. It’s a big sense of relief but now I feel it kind of set the stake for future years.” 

Carey said consistency has helped the team achieve excellence in a short time. 

“Starting with the basics, (which) is something we do that maybe some other coaches don’t,” assistant coach Kristin Johnson said. “We drill it to the point that they can’t mess it up. So once you have that, they can do the more elite skills that they proved out there.”  

Foundation Academy Executive Assistant Kristen Perfetto said the rings were custom-made. The phrase, “Be the light. Build the legacy,” is engraved on the inside. The side of the rings features the state of Florida with a cross on the inside to highlight Orlando. The rings also features Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts."

“(That’s) what the team chose as (its) Bible verse of the year last summer, as the season started,” Perfetto said. 

The team competed at the FHSAA Competitive Cheerleading State Championship in Gainesville in Feb. 1-2. After two consecutive years of placing runner-ups in the state, they became state champions this year. No other team at Foundation Academy has won a state championship title. 

Tilden Campus Principal Sarah Reynolds said during the ceremony, “I love that it was girls (who) got the school’s first state championship.”