CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Even before the basketball game at Richview Middle School in Clarksville ended Thursday night, the school and its cheer squad found a way to win.
Driving past Richview Middle School this summer, 12-year-old Claire Wise knew she'd be attending there in the fall.
Her dad, Brad Wise, says Claire would look out the window each time and say the same thing:
"I want to be a cheerleader there, I'll be a cheerleader! I'll be a cheerleader," Brad says Claire would say.
But Brad says he wondered if that dream would ever come true for Claire.
"You don't want to get their hopes up and have things not work out for them," Brad said.
Claire was born with Down Syndrome. But she wouldn't let that stop her.
After a pep rally at the start of the school year, Claire took it upon herself to head to the gym floor and do the splits.
"We went back there, saw her, ruffled our poms for her and we welcomed her to the team the next day," said 12-year-old cheerleader Taylor Clinard.
"I'm really proud of her, she gets out there and puts herself out there," her dad Brad said. "The cheer team has really taken her in, sometimes you feel like you're holding others back when you have someone with special needs in a group like that, but they've just taken her in and let her be a part of it, like everyone else."
Now, firmly a part of the Richview cheerleading squad, Claire says there's no place else she'd rather be.
"Just to see them come together and share their passion and share it with Claire and embrace her," said cheerleading coach Kate DeLong. "That's what makes Richview, Richview."
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
