I love going to football games on Friday nights. The thrill of competition igniting roars of support and encouragement from the fans, the bleachers packed to the likeness of a sardine can, and a parking lot filled with enough cars to deplete an entire layer of the ozone. It all makes you realize just how much our community loves our team. I enjoy being at volleyball games even more, partially due to my own love of the game, and largely due to the fans you see there. Listening to the notoriously ornery and beloved Cameron Crazies out cheer any person or group of people in the gym, watching parents nearly jump through the roof as their girl scores the match point, and even noticing the soon-to-be-freshman eight graders cheer on their high school heroes; we truly give tribute to the pride we have in the girls. The same could be said for both boys and girls basketball games, and numerous other activities of Cameron High School.

Then there is the boys soccer games. Have you ever been to one? For those of you who haven't, I'll try to paint a picture for you. The parking lot has about 25 cars in it, 15 of which are the athletes', coaches', and supervisors'. The other 10 are divided between both the home and away fans. The reigning sound is that of the dog two blocks down barking as a stranger walks by its yard. And the normally packed stands are empty enough you could make your very own spoof on the Rocky movie while running up and down the rows of bleachers. Do you catch my drift? There are more people on one of the teams than there are in the stands. I hate to be judgmental, but this just isn't right. And the soccer team isn't the only team who suffers from this problem.



The plague includes the tennis team, golf team, track team; the list goes on. All of these athletes and teams put in the same amount of hard work and give their sports the same amount of dedication as the next. Why shouldn't they be rewarded with support from their peers, from their teachers, and the rest of the community? How heartening do you think it would be for a student to look up from those fields and courts and see a "packed house" supporting them and their team? How much of a difference could it make? Honestly, I don't have the answer to the last question but there is one way to find out and it involves showing up.



I do know they deserve the support though. I don't claim to be the hardest worker alive by any means, but I do know after a night of set construction for our musicals I don't leave the building full of energy. I go home covered in paint with wood chips in my eyes and my limbs sore from carrying lumber up and down the stairs for the duration of the night. This is just from one night, and most of our students put in at least 20 hours--some get closer to 40. Those hours are tacked on to countless hours of actual practice on stage and memorizing lines and songs off stage. Tell me this isn't worth a couple of bucks out of your pocket and a few hours out of your evening?

I hope the next time you hear about a band concert, a soccer game, or even an academic bowl match, you will remember the kind of hard work the students in the Cameron community put in. All of them strive to give their best and the least we can do is show up and let them know we appreciate their work ethic and commitment. For those of you who do this on a regular basis, thank you. You will never know what it means to a student to hear you cheer their name after the play ends or shake their hand after a show well performed. Keep making this difference in their lives. As for the rest of us, lets see if we really can "pack the house," no matter the setting of the "house." I know I will try to show my support in more areas of my schools extra-curricular activities, and I hope you will come to find it as time well spent too.