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St. Helens High School Cheer finish

St. Helens High School

Cheer has stuck the landing on its season, and for the program, this year is the jumping-off point for a program on the rise.

Starting in the fall, the cheer team set its sights on a more competitive season.

Being able to compete with established programs feels amazing. Cheer culture isn’t the traditional “we must win” feeling. There is a lot of support from our competitors when we grow and hit milestones, and we are truly happy for them as well.

~ Nicole Waite, Head Coach

“In addition to having a sideline cheer team of 16 members, we knew there was an interest to start a competitive cheer program, which our school has rarely offered in the past. In early November, we held tryouts and selected nine members to join our competitive team,” Head Coach Nicole Waite said. “Overall, both teams have improved skills for performing and leading our crowds. The support from parents, administration, boosters, and fans have helped our growth as a program.”

Taking on the competition

Becoming a competitive cheer program offers its fair share of challenges.

To help jump these hurdles, the team brought in an experienced choreographer to help the team face up to the OSAA rubric system by which teams are judged. During the winter cheer season, the budding team enjoyed success at their meets.

“On January 28, we competed in the Pacer Invitational competition held at Lakeridge High School, where we proudly took home 3rd place in the 4A Division,” Waite said. “On February 4th, we competed at a larger competition held at Tualatin High School, where we placed 5th in the 4A division.”

Cheering through adversity

The team is young, with only one junior and no seniors on the squad. Waite hopes that the team takes pride in the fact that they are building a program for the future.

Team’s challenges included getting adequate practice time. Construction at the high school and bouts of sickness got in the way of coordinating training times, and the illness even forced the team to miss a competition in January.

“It took a lot of coordination and thought to share practice spaces,” Waite said.

“We were able to navigate these obstacles as a team with strong communication and focus during practices.”

The team competed in the 4A Division at the OSAA State Competition on Saturday, February 11th. While they did not place in the event, it was another step in the right direction. Waite reflected on the team’s performance in a Facebook post the day after the event.

“Yesterday we performed at the OSAA State Competition held at Oregon City High School. It was a morning filled with nerves and excitement as we entered this new level of competition. While we didn’t end

up placing where we had hoped, we definitely came away with knowledge and experience to put into practice for next year,” the post stated.

Looking forward to next year

Next year, the team will have an entire season’s experience under their belt, and Waite is excited about the team’s future. The season was about establishing itself as a competitive program and gaining experience as a unit. This season will just be the foundational block at the base of the pyramid for the Lions Cheer Team.

“We hope that our team will find satisfaction in building a strong program that they are proud of. They are literally paving the way and setting the bar for others down the road,” Waite said.

“Being able to compete with established programs feels amazing. Cheer culture isn’t the traditional “we must win” feeling. There is a lot of support from our competitors when we grow and hit milestones, and we are truly happy for them as well.”

Follow St. Helen’s High School sports at osaa.com and find articles about the school’s winter sports at thechronicelonline.com.

New cookie shop opening in Clatskanie

Clatskanie will soon be welcoming a new bakery, Cryptid Cookies. The shop is owned and operated by Jason and Joyce Palm, high-school sweethearts who have four

daughters.

The store is located in the small business plaza off Bel Air Drive at 225 East Columbia River Highway.

The name cryptid refers to those animals who may exist but are not recognized by scientists. Examples of cryptids include Bigfoot, Yeti and the Loch Ness monster.

Joyce began baking in earnest in 2019, when the word spread that she was great at baking. She has

always been a baker, but now she specializes in her mouth-watering cookies. Higher costs have caused some difficulties for the startup, according to Joyce.

“Rising inflation has made things tricky,” she said. “For example, eggs and powdered sugar have doubled.”

The couple is also concerned with supply chain issues, but no major hurdles so far in that area, they

said.

Both Joyce and Jason think that word of mouth will be the biggest factor in helping the business grow.

“And we are optimistic the store will bridge that gap between retail and wholesale, which will also be available,” Joyce said. Shipping will also be available, and Joyce intends to quickly honor all orders. Wholesale cookies, such as those that feature a company’s logo, promise to be

a hit.

Joyce’s cooking rack has five shelves which on a busy day will be full.

Joyce has been baking the cookies in a regular oven at her home, but now she now has a certified bakery oven, which she said will be very advantageous.

“We will go from seven quarts to 30 quarts of batter,” she said. “I will be able to easily make eight times as many cookies at a time.”

Joyce uses a printer regularly when baking cookies. She can do cookies with a company logo, any cryptid figure, Christmas items; just about anything that can be printed. The printer she uses is an Eddie, or an edible ink printer. The Eddie can print one cookie in 19 seconds or 12 in two minutes, according to their

See COOKIES Page A3

Courtesy photo

The cheerleaders pictured are, top row, Katie Duke, Halli Heys, Keely Scoville, and Montana Sloan. Bottom row, Alexandra Johnson, Tarrah Lemont, Maggie Burke, Haylie Matheny, and Aliciyah Miguel-Cloninger.

LAUREY

Courtesy photos from Cryptid Cookies Facebook

These are examples of the Cryptid Cookies.

From

Clatskanie