The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation and the Redskins Cheerleader Ambassadors visited Cleveland Elementary School on April 8 to help get the students ready for the upcoming assessments.
Students at Cleveland Elementary School had a great kick-off to the weekend; a half-day and a visit from the Washington Redskins on Friday, April 8.
Mercii and Jeanette, both Washington Redskins Cheerleader Ambassadors, surprised the school to get students pumped-up for their upcoming tests.
In the coming weeks, DC Public Schools students will take Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers assessments, or PARCC assessments, to measure performance in core subjects.
Students in grades two, three and four gathered in the gym for an assembly led by principal Dawn Feltman who introduced Mercii and Jeanette to thunderous applause.
The cheerleaders shared tips for success that the students can use to prepare for the PARCC assessments such as eating a healthy breakfast, getting a good night's rest and studying hard.
Then, students were given the opportunity to ask questions which ranged from inquiries about how they deal with stress to how they got involved with cheerleading.
Mercii, who once worked in a charter school, has first-hand experience working with young children and said she knows how important a supportive learning environment is.
"When I worked in a charter school, we did the exact same thing because children tend to have a lot of anxiety with standardized tests," she said. "And there's really nothing to fear when it comes to these types of tests as long as they're prepared and know that they have a school that supports them and cares for them, it's really important."
The visit concluded with the cheerleaders visiting Pre-K classrooms to take pictures and meet with the students that were not at the pep rally and even got to see one girl show off her own cheerleading skills.
Principal Feltman wanted to bring the cheerleaders to Cleveland Elementary to provide motivation from an outside source, believing that the students would be even more inclined to prepare for the tests if they got advice from the Redskins.
"We thought it would be cool for them to come pump-up the children with getting ready to take the PARCC assessment next week," Feltman said.
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