Cheerleaders get extra ‘face’ time at homecoming
From left, Carle Place High School senior cheerleaders Haley Meyrowitz, Gabriella Baratta, Ashley Pereira and Christiana Caliendo with "Big Head Cutout" props of their faces at the Carle Place High School Homecoming Day varsity football game on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. Credit: Ian J. Stark
It’s not uncommon these days to see high school football fans holding up blown-up images of their favorite players as a show of support.
But Friday night, it was the cheerleaders for the Carle Place/Wheatley Wild Frogs who received that honor as part of the homecoming football game, with fans in the stands holding up large poster-board pictures of the four seniors on the squad.
Cheerleading coach Joan Caliendo had a notion to give the cheer squad members in their final year — Haley Meyrowitz, Gabriella Baratta, Ashley Pereira and Christiana Caliendo, the coach’s daughter — some extra attention by arranging for the cheer team members to receive large cut-out photos of their faces.
“I figured, if it works for the players, why not the girls, so I brought to their parents and they made the purchase” from the Stumps Party website, which offers “Big Head Cutouts.”
Christiana’s twin brother, Luke, the captain of the football team, wasn’t left out of the fun.
His dad, Lou Caliendo, proudly held blown-up version of his son’s head.
“I think it’s cool,” says cheerleader Pereira. “It gets the crowd excited, to have these to hold and show support for us.”
Sure enough, as the game rolled on, the faces of senior cheerleaders could be spotted in the stands, held by fellow students who waved the props wildly as they screamed the names of cheerleaders as they performed on the sidelines.
Coach Caliendo enjoyed the success of the cutouts, and doesn’t want it to end with the Class of 2018.
“I think it might become a tradition,” she said.“ ...I mean, I started it, so hopefully!”
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
