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Give Kids An 'A' For Awesome Cheering Effort

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By DONNA ST. GEORGE, The Washington Post

Published: November 11, 2007

WASHINGTON - Marlo Bloom is a competitive cheerleader. She can do great round-offs, back handsprings and layouts. She performs with other high-energy teenagers in weekend competitions at places including big arenas in Washington and Baltimore.
Marlo had been cheerleading for five years when she met Clare Kearney, who had just joined Destiny, a team for kids with special needs. Clare, 13, has autism and Down syndrome, which make the technical parts of cheerleading harder for her.

That's where Marlo, 14, comes in.

She became Clare's ever-present helper - beside her for every practice and every stage performance. Marlo is one of five experienced cheerleaders who help the Destiny team.

Marlo and the others joined Destiny as the team performed at its first major sports event last week: the George Mason University men's basketball season opener Friday at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.

Most of the time, Marlo sees Clare at the Dream Allstars gym in Gaithersburg, Md., a spacious place with thick blue floor mats and gleaming trophies, where cheerleaders put in hours of practice.

The team was invited to George Mason after a story about the cheerleaders appeared in The Washington Post in September. It got a lot of attention. Soon the girls were on a bus to New York to perform on ABC's "Good Morning America."

The girls were thrilled. There were 12 on the team at the time, ranging in age from 7 to 15.

In New York, the girls snagged autographs from Diane Sawyer and other TV personalities. Several girls offered to give their autographs to people they met.

"They felt like celebrities," said one team mom.
Marlo also went on the trip, which she said ranks as "one of the best things in my life. They were just so happy."

The Destiny cheerleaders have since been filmed by crews from "CBS Evening News" and Voice of America. Recently, more than a dozen other girls and one boy - all with special needs - joined the team. More helpers have signed on, too.

To prepare for their big event at George Mason, Destiny team members held an extra practice. Clare stayed close to Marlo. Marlo helped her with several moves, but when it came to dancing Clare took the lead, swiveling her hips with the music.

Then Clare motioned toward the trampoline - a first.

"You want to go on the trampoline? Really?" Marlo asked.

Clare climbed up, and for a time they stood together, arm in arm, as Clare got used to the elevated surface and the up-and-down motion.

"It's OK," Marlo said. "We're bouncing, see?"

Clare's mother, Paula, watched and smiled. She said that Clare has been involved in other activities, but none has had such a profound effect.

"It's just been amazing," she said.

Not long after Marlo and Clare became friends, they learned they have the same birthday: April 12. On the last one, they exchanged gifts and notes.

"It's definitely a friendship," Marlo said. "I love her, and I know she at least likes me, too. She makes me laugh all the time."

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