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Goodnight, Miss Sylvia, and God bless!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Cheer, Whidbey's Best on November 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Sylvia Arnold and the next generation of Wolf cheerleaders, her nieces. (Courtney Arnold photos)

Yep, no doubt whose family they’re from.

She finished the way you knew she would, with a smile covering her entire face.

Bringing a close to a stellar 20-year run as Coupeville High School’s indefatigable cheer coach, Sylvia Arnold went out by bringing down the house.

As her successor, Cheridan Eck, watched from above with a smile of her own, swaying along to the beat, Arnold and her Wolf cheer squad joined with a huge mob of elementary school girls — there were 113 cheerleaders on the field at halftime Friday — to put on a rousing, well-received show.

Still hugging each and every one of her girls, current, future or past, long after the show, and the game, had ended, Miss Sylvia bowed out with grace, humility and one final ear-splitting “Let’s go, Wolves” cheer that could only come from her well-conditioned lungs.

The queen has left the building, but her legacy will live on for generations.

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Miss Sylvia walks away, Part 3: One woman can change the world!!

Posted in Cheer, Where are they now?, Whidbey's Best on October 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Shawn (Evrard) Christensen (left) and Sylvia Arnold during high school cheer days.

The cheerleader all grown up, and bringing up her own daughters.

Shawn Christensen is one of my favorite people.

From our days working together back at Videoville and Miriam’s Espresso to now, as she raises her two daughters with husband Billy, she has always been, and always will be, a truly special woman.

She has endured much and stayed strong and retains the warmth and friendliness which has always flowed out of her like a ray of sunshine.

A huge part of what she is, and what she has become, she credits to her time as a Coupeville High School cheerleader. As we remember Sylvia Arnold, who is retiring Friday after 20 years as Wolf coach, I offer Shawn’s beautiful thoughts on her coach, mentor and friend:

Sylvia Arnold has a magnetism.

She pulls you in and builds you up, and you are forever changed because your paths crossed.

I was on her team, but she was my cheerleader. She built me up in such an inspiring way, I had no choice but to rise to her expectations.

I am a better leader now because of Sylvia. I am a better mother, a better friend, a better wife, all because she chose to guide me.

When Sylvia coached me, she had three little kids at home (actually Brett was in the womb) and I was a typical rebelling teenager.

But I was passionate about cheering. I showed up, I smiled, I laughed, I did my best.

Sylvia started grooming me at the end of my freshman year.

She didn’t invest in me just while on the clock, she would invite me over to hang out. She involved me in every way that she could, keeping me out of trouble.

I can’t tell you how many life-changing conversations I had in her kitchen, eating goldfish crackers with her kids. Or on the phone, and Garrett so generous to let me talk to his wife for hours after she tucked her kids in to bed.

It’s been 14 years since I graduated, and I still know her phone number by heart, we talked that much.

And her family! They were just as welcoming.

Never annoyed when I was calling, always patient and kind when I needed Sylvia. Her kids, her parents, and Garrett. The most loving and selfless people I had ever known.

Without their support, she would not have been able to do it all.

She held me accountable when I was slipping. She called me out on bad attitudes. She did it in such a loving way, I could actually hear what she was saying, instead of deflecting or becoming defensive.

She inspired me. She encouraged my personal growth, and loved me in spite of my flaws. She held my hand in joy and sorrow.

All of this, and for what? The small paycheck she received from the school? No way.

She poured into the kids in our community with a fierce passion and love that isn’t inspired by a paycheck.

She was more than a coach. Sylvia was the heart of our squad.

Her impact in my life can never be repaid. Instead, I pay it forward. I serve in my community, in my church, and in my family.

And I am just one of the hundreds she has taken under her wing. Think of how many communities are better for the seeds of compassion and love that Sylvia planted in the hearts of her teams, year after year.

Sylvia’s legacy will live on forever.

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Miss Sylvia walks away, Part 2: A daughter remembers!!

Posted in Cheer, Whidbey's Best on October 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The Arnold family (l to r) — Courtney, Brett, Garrett, Sylvia and Scott.

Hundreds of girls cheered for Sylvia Arnold over the last 20 years, but only one called her Mom at home.

Courtney Arnold has a unique perspective, and I thank her for being willing to offer it. Her thoughts on the woman who brought her into the world and taught her the power of cheer:

Cheering for my mom was one of the most rewarding experiences in high school because I got to witness, first hand, the consistency of her faith, morals and characters in all that she does.

Champions commit.

The phrase came to life during my junior and senior year on the team, but has always been a theme to her coaching.

Though my mom emphasized this in the competitive arena of cheerleading, especially when competitive cheerleading meant waking up for 6 AM practices, it carried over into the academic and social lives of all the cheerleaders.

My mom believes that champions commit to their studies, they commit to their community, they commit to their relationships – they commit to being the best in all facets of life.

My mom also taught the team that it doesn’t matter how many trophies you bring home to the show cases if you are not smart, kind, and respectable young women.

I do not think that I could ever fully express how much my mom has impacted the school through her involvement as a cheer coach.

Her impact is written on the stories of the cheerleaders’ and students’ lives she has touched with her words and actions.

She has loved more than just her cheer team; she has loved the entire school and community by the hours upon hours she has poured into behind the scenes work that often goes unnoticed.

She hardly ever takes credit for what she does and instead deflects the glory onto the beautiful girls she coaches and the school in its entirety.

There are too many moments that are special to me to just pick one.

Some of my favorite have been singing the national anthem with her at football games or watching her make a fool of herself in front of the junior cheer girls simply to bring them joy through laughter.

Over this last year it would have been easy for my mom to give up on coaching.

I know that in many ways she was physically absent from the cheer team during all that was going on, but I know that her heart never left the program or the girls.

In returning to coach this last year of cheerleading, she showed the high school and community what she stands for: commitment. Champions commit.

My mom is a champion, in every sense of the word.

She is continually committed to God, she is committed to her husband and family, and she has been committed to her role as a cheer coach for many years.

But now, that time is coming to an end.

It is hard to see her leave the sidelines, but I know that the heart and soul she has poured into the cheer program, the school, and the community will overflow into the years to come.

Her legacy will live on through the testimonies and stories of those she has coached, taught, and simply lived life with.

If I could say anything to conclude, it would be thank you.

Thank you for the countless hours you have put in without anyone knowing, thank you for challenging the stigma of cheerleading, thank you for pushing girls to be more than talented athletes but to also be respectable and smart young women, thank you for your constant smiles through the hardest of times, and thank you for modeling what it truly means to be a champion.

Mom, thank you.

Know that you are valued, loved, and appreciated.

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Miss Sylvia walks away, Part 1: Thank you!!

Posted in Cheer, Whidbey's Best on October 31, 2013| 3 Comments »

A blast from the past, with Sylvia Arnold and Sylvia Hurlburt, who is now a sophomore cheering for CHS. (Kristin Hurlburt photo)

Sylvia Arnold changed the way a town views its cheerleaders.

In her 20 years on the job, the Coupeville High School cheer coach — a force of nature whose enthusiasm has never wavered through good times and bad times — did something very few cheer coaches would even consider.

She welcomed everyone into the family.

There were no cuts, no competition for a few select spots. If you showed up, if you put your all in, you were one of her girls for life.

It didn’t matter if you fit the “classic” cheerleader profile or if you wore glasses, had multiple hair colors, were taller or shorter or heavier, were outgoing or painfully withdrawn at the start.

You were one of her girls, end of story.

Other schools seem to be constantly amazed with the size of the Wolf cheer squad. The radio announcers from King’s talked about it non-stop for an entire game last year.

There will be some who will tell you it got out of hand, that having more cheerleaders than football players on the sideline is embarrassing.

It must be tough to be wrong, but you are.

As Miss Sylvia prepares for her final regular season game this Friday, I firmly believe she has positively impacted more lives than any coach in this town over the past two decades.

Not just at the high school level, but with the countless elementary and middle school girls she worked with, many of whom returned to cheer for her in later years.

I have seen kids transformed, young women (and a few guys) who carried her lessons with them as they embarked on wonderful journeys that have taken them far from this Island, and often brought them back.

She has given countless teenagers a belief that they can be great, that they are part of something bigger than just themselves. That you don’t have to fit the stereotype to be successful.

You see it in their smiles. In their confidence. In the way they return to see her year after year.

When you look at what she has built, there is nothing but pride. Pride in a town. Pride in being positive, in helping pull up the sister on your right and on your left, because that makes you stronger.

She will tell us she doesn’t want any hoopla. That she doesn’t need to be celebrated.

Nice try, but that’s not how it’s going down.

The next time you see her, whether it’s at a game, at the store, at church, passing her on the street, stop and say two words.

Thank you.

Thank you for giving of yourself. Thank you for making your town better for your presence. Thank you for taking something simple, cheer, and making it pay off in incredibly complex ways.

Thank you, Miss Sylvia, for being you.

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