LJH Cheerleader Cheers All-American at the ‘Happiest Place On Earth’

Callie Shelton cheers in the All-American parade at Disney over Thanksgiving break!

Sarah Hester

Lonoke High School Freshmen and LJH Cheerleader, Callie Shelton, became an NCA All-American cheerleader after being nominated All-American during cheer camp back in June. Following becoming an All-American cheerleader, Callie got the opportunity to cheer Thanksgiving week at Disney World. Cheering at the event wasn’t easy and it took a lot of preparation prior to performing. Callie began preparing for the performance about a month in advance and she started learning her cheer routines via videos 2 weeks later. When she made it to Disney World, the whole team rehearsed for 3 hours. Around 600 girls from across the country cheered at Disney World, and around 20-30 girls were from Arkansas.

Callie got to cheer the day before Thanksgiving, in the evening time. She expressed that she wasn’t nervous the day of the parade like she had been before. She enjoyed seeing all the kids looking up to her while she cheered. Callie said, “I felt proud to be an inspiration to them. Performing there was something that may never happen again, so I tried to take it all in.” She attended the trip with her mom, as well as her two sisters. Callie got to go to all the Kingdoms at Disney and she loved seeing all the beautiful scenery. She emphasized that this was an experience of a lifetime and that she enjoyed every second of it. When asked to describe this opportunity in a few words, she said, “…I would say it was like a dream…because I was genuinely happy, and getting to meet kids and make others happy was something that I loved the very most about this experience.” She hopes to go back her junior or senior year if she were to be nominated for All-American again.

Callie Shelton has been cheering for around 2 years. She said her favorite part about cheering is tumbling, the people she has met, and most importantly performing in front of others. Callie has always had a dream of performing in front of others. She loves getting people rallied up and excited. Callie loves tumbling! She took tumbling lessons when she was younger, but she later had to quit. However, Callie never gave up on tumbling, she took it upon herself to learn the majority of the tricks she knows today. She joined cheer as a way of picking up where she left off, and she has loved every second of it!