This event came together quickly when Head Coach Stacy Shube took a seed planted by Shauna's parents
and ran with it to harness the passion and energy of our Cheer & Song program to help Shauna's parents realize a
tangible positive result. They can cite this as one example that school districts around the nation
can review and implement "relatively easily" to generate the funds to equip their high schools with Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs).
This is a heart-warming story that follows a personal tragedy. It is not surprising that the
Esperanza HS community came together to demonstrate how easily a request for help from
one of our own, can be translated into action and a successful result. Thanks in part to the great
publicity provided by reporter Eric Carpenter (and photographer Rod Veal) in the Orange County Register,
Mr. Doug Domene, Assistant Superintendent with the Placentia Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD) has received at least five contacts from Defibrillator suppliers to "bid" on this equipment.
Mr. Domene, quoted in the October 1st OC Register article, jumped on board early when Stacy discussed
how Esperanza HS and the District might be able to put this together. He sought out and received the commitment
from the Yorba Linda Sunrise Rotary Club to match funds that were raised up to a $12,500 max,
which is an estimate of what half the cost would be for the four portable AEDs to equip our four high schools
in the District (including the new YLHS due to open in Sept /09.). What the OC Register reader did not know is that
Doug is not a stranger to the EHS C & S Booster Club. He was a 4-year Cheer Dad when his daughter Cara was
a Varsity Cheerleader and squad Captain in her senior year, graduating from EHS in June, 2004.
Thank you
all collectively, for your participation and your generosity.
To learn more about the volunteer efforts that Mr. & Mrs. Stuewe have undertaken to promote the acquisition of AEDs and the training for the teachers on all U.S. high school
campuses, go to www.ParentHeartWatch.org web site. There you can see the impassioned work that the parents of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) victims are
driving to prevent others from losing a loved one. Lori & Kirk Stuewe are California representatives.
To learn how you can help with their efforts, if you select California in the State window near the bottom
right section of that Home page it will provide their contact information. Thank you for all you do.
| Shauna Stuewe October 12, 1991 - February 15, 2006 |
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| Esperanza Cheer & Song celebrates what would have been Shauna's 16th birthday by Jumping for AEDs. |
Jump Start My Heart
Head Coach Stacy Shube introduced the "Jump to Save a Life"
program to the throng of parents, and well wishers including the parents of Shauna Stuewe, Lori & Kirk and their
daughter, Melanie, as well as several Stuewe family members who came to celebrate what would have
been Shauna's 16th birthday on Friday, October 12th And celebrate we did. Stacy explained
that some of the girls were injured. Georgi just had her broken leg cast removed on Oct. 10th and Ally is on medical waivers
for her back sprain, but forty-nine of the 51 girls, (some "played hurt" with less severe injuries) participated
and each did 100 "jumps" to earn money for a good cause.
Please CLICK HERE to view the OC Register photo of Lori, Kirk and Melanie Stuewe
as they address the well wishers and participants who help to bring meaning and purpose to what would have been Shauna's
16th birthday celebration near her memorial tree and rock plaque at the Esperanza Cheer practice performance surface.
Photo by Rod Veal, OC Register.
PLEASE NOTE: If you
click on the photos below taken by our Booster Club parents, they will
enlarge to the "wide size" and fill about half the screen on another window.
| Varsity and JV Songleaders ready to do 100 jumps. |
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| A good cause brings the Song / Pom squads together to raise funds. Photo by Marsha Pace. 10-12-07. |
| Coach Stacy with Varsity and JV Cheerleaders. |
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| The other half of the team ready to Jump Start My Heart. Photo by Marsha Pace. |
| JV Songleaders anticipating 100 jumps. 10-12-07. |
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| Some JV Songleaders try to relax before Stacy starts the count, Photo by Leah B. |
Head
Coach Stacy mentioned in her opening remarks that she had raised her original target from $3,000 to $6,000 as her
goals were eclipsed early by the enthusiastic drive especially from several of Shauna's former JV Cheer team mates from the
2005-2006 season, who are now Seniors. At the beginning of the event at 4 PM Oct. 12th, Stacy was amazed that
we were up to $8,000 -- However, by the time 80 minutes had elapsed and the girls had over 4900 jumps in total,
Stacy was overjoyed to announce that the interim total of over $10,000 had
been counted by the Board members including last minute donations
that several girls turned in before they hit the performance surface.
Booster
Club president, Marsha Pace was happy to announce at 7:30 PM that Friday night that the
tally had jumped again to $13,000 and checks were still arriving the week
after. (Stacy reported at the November Board meeting that the amount in the account was now $16,000.)
| Varsity Songleader does Toe Touch for AEDefibs. |
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| Varsity Cheer & Songleaders show athleticism on their way to 100 jumps. Photo by Leah Brimacombe. |
| Coach Stacy calls out the count at Jump-A-Thon |
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| Cheer & Songleaders do 50 toe touches, then leaps, back tucks, back handsprings totalling 50.more. |
To see the photo of three Varsity Cheerleaders
in the October 12th article, taken by Rod Veal, OC Register photographer, CLICK HERE This is a beautiful shot taken while Rod is on one knee looking
up with blue sky framing from right to left, K, E, and B. The OC Register policy does not allow use of their photographs
on other websites. However, they do allow hyperlinks to their on-line photos. Enjoy!
| Hyper extension, Look Ma, I'm flying. |
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| Varsity Songleader does a great toe touch, one of 100. Photo by Leah B. 10-12-07. |
| What goes up...Gravity will take over in 3 - 2 - 1 |
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| Varsity Songleader demonstrates how it is done with a SMILE. Only 75 left to do. Photo by Leah B. |
Here is another photo,
that is stacked in the on-line October 12th Orange County Register article, of the front row
of girls doing toe touches taken by Rod Veal, OC Register. Isn't
this a fun game? "name that cheer or songleader." I'll check
the video to see if we can tell who they are.... CLICK HERE (From right to left: L, then ?, B, another B,
another B, K?, and another teammate on the end who is just too tiny to recognize.)
For privacy and security reasons, we have a policy not to ID the
girls in our photos...but it is sure fun to try. Especially when they are on-line at the OC Register
website.
| Stacy shows surprise@$10,600 tally after 100 jumps |
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| The girls stretch & relax after completing 100 jumps, leaps, tucks, back handsprings. |
With the matching funds from Yorba Linda Sunrise Rotary club up to $12,500 --
it looks like the Esperanza Cheer & Songleaders have exceeded the $25,000 estimated cost of the Automated External Defibrillators to
provide equipment for the existing four high schools in the Placentia Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD)including
El Camino Real HS, plus the new YLHS which will open Sept./09 (presumably, a proportionate number of units will move with
the migrating students from Eldorado and EHS.)
Mr. & Mrs. Kirk Stuewe are California representatives of Parent Heart Watch.org which is trying
to raise $50,000 to nationally promote the importance of AEDs to save a life from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). See the
LINKs page for this website.)
Aztec Dave (Tennant) emailed Stacy's letter
to the EHS parent distribution the week before the event, and that letter was read over the voice mail system to all
3200 Esperanza HS families on October 10th. There was widespread knowledge by the EHS parents that this event was
scheduled for Friday, October 12th on the West Campus performance surface. Many Esperanza students and parents donated
to our Jump-A-Thon, They realized that the life they saved could be a loved one. At least three EHS
parents emailed our webmaster with supplier contacts or to ask if they could be considered
as the supplier for this RFQ. Those requests were forwarded by Stacy to Doug Domene at the District for consideration
by the purchasing department.
| After 100 jumps these girls are going to be SORE. |
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| Cheer & Songleaders stretch it out after 100 jumps, over 3 times as many as a normal game day. |
To see the October 1st OC Register article to promote the Jump Start
My Heart Jump-A-Thon on Oct. 12th at 4 PM on the West Campus performance mat,
click here. Marsha noted that Channel 2 TV was represented, and the OC Register
photographer took lots of pictures at the event.
The follow-up article by reporter Eric Carpenter, published in the OC Register Saturday, October 13th
newspaper is on-line at http://www.ocregister.com/news/shauna-defibrillators-jump-1890423-cheer-money There are four photos taken by Rod Veal, OC Register photographer
that are stacked on-line. Each of these photos has been referenced (3 above and one below the back of the teal
T-shirt) in the appropriate spot herein on this Jump Start My Heart webpage, with a hyperlink to the actual
on-line picture that the reader would find in Eric Carpenter's article. Therefore, if you have been diligentlly
clicking all the hyperlinks, you will have seen three of Rod Veal's photos so far. The last one is Stacy's back that
Rod took to show the words of tribute to Shauna. There are some good-looking toe touches in the background that
you can enlarge to see if you can recognize the girls.
This article was subsequently published in the Yorba Linda Star on Thursday, October 18th. The
same two photos (Kaitlyn, Elizabeth & Brittany doing) toe touches and the photo of the Stuewe family were reproduced
in color,
| EHS Cheer and Song celebrated Shauna's birthday. |
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| CLICK ANYWHERE ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE IMAGE.. Front & back design by Sarah Chapman, Varsity Song. |
OC Register photographer, Rod Veal captured the back
of Stacy's T-shirt in this picture while she is calling the count to the Cheer & Songleaders during the
first 50 jumps where the front row of 7 rows of 7 girls did five toe touches in a row to the rockin' beat
of the music. CLICK HERE to view this picture and try to figure out who the girls are (the JVC on the right is H) doing those terrific toe
touches.
This area used to be a kindergarten playground years ago. The
surface material looks like street pavement in the pictures but it isn't. It is a $20,000 performance surface
that the Cheer & Song Booster Club installed in October, 2003 after four years of fund raising. The
surface is a hard foam material that one might find under the swing sets and slides at the Orange County parks
these days. The knees and ankle joints get some cushioning when they take off and land, but if the cheerleader falls
throwing her tumbling (like a round-off back handspring tuck)...or they drop a stunt, and you are the flyer, it still
hurts.
In the second 50 jumps, the Varsity Cheerleaders threw standing back
tucks and the JV Cheerleaders threw standing back handsprings. They both did stag
leaps, and pikes to mix up the routine. The Songleaders are dancers by training
and did a series of running leaps across the mat to complete their last 50 jumps.
Senior, Julia Yamaguchi cited in the
OC Register article, arranged for each team member to purchase teal colored T-Shirts for the event with the
wording on the front, Jump Start My Heart and
appropriate wording on the back to honor her friend Shauna. Artwork designed by senior, Sarah Chapman, Varsity
Song. All 51 girls wore their teal colored T-shirts to school on Wednesday, October 10th and they were met with an outpouring of dollars at the lunch tables from the Esperanza students
who realize that the AE Defibrillators may save one of their friends some day. Additional T-shirts
were sold at the event to friends and family. There was teal everywhere!
Lori,
Kirk and Melanie gave out "Remember Shauna" teal colored wrist bands and copies of her prayer book, a favorite memento that
the girls cherish.
At the Thursday, Oct. 11th Varsity Football Game, some of the JV girls and some parents collected donations for the
Jump-A-Thon. Thanks to all who donated over $500 at Bradford Stadium.
| JV Songleaders collect donations @Varsity FB game. |
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| At the Home game against Marina HS, JV Cheer & Song /parents collected $500. |
| Jr. Varsity Cheer + Songleaders collecting Oct. 11 |
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| While Varsity Cheered on the Football Aztecs, the JV Cheer & Songleaders collected. Photo by Leah B |
| Jr. Varsity Songleaders attract FB fans to donate |
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| On the eve of Shauna's 16th birthday, JV Song help collect for 4 Auto. External. Defibrillators |
On
December 11, 2007, the Sunrise YL Rotary Club president and his colleagues, the Stuewe family, Stacy and the
Esperanza Cheer & Song team were invited to the PYLUSD School Board meeting to present the checks. Doug Domene, Assistant
Superintendent and main driver of this project for the School Board, announced that the total of $12,500 matching funds
from the Rotary Club and the $16,056 raised by the jump-a-thon (totaled $28,556) had funded the
purchase of twelve (12) Automatic External Defibrillator units that will be placed in the four high schools
in the district beginning in January.
In
addition to the Rotary Club representatives, Stacy Shube and Lori Stuewe addressed the board members and the audience. All
of the participants above, plus the entire EHS Cheer & Song team in their competition sweat suits, filed past Dennis
Smith, District Superintendent and the five school board members for a congratulatory handshake.
Both
the Sunrise YL Rotary Club and Esperanza Cheer & Song team will receive a "Star" on the wall for their
donations.
| Stacy Shube presents check for $16,056 to PYLUSD. |
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| Cheer & Song team raised $16,056 to buy Automatic External Defibrillators for District high schools. |
| Stacy with Kirk, Lori, Melanie Stuewe. 12-11-07 |
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| The Stuewe family joined Stacy Shube as she addressed the School District Board.. Photos by M. Pace |
We
made the 10 PM Channel 9 TV newscast and the exact package was repeated at 11:13 PM on the CBS station that night.
Watch it yourself -- If you go to http://cbs2.com/video/ and search down to Dec. 12, 2007 at 12:12 am Pacific Time the clip is posted for you to
view anytime. You just have to find it. They are in chronological order.
(On Dec.13th it was on page #13 of 4432 video clips. They are 10 clips per page and they add about 4 pages per
day.) The thumbnail of the screen is a white poster board with a small photo of Shauna and
the CBS video title is: "O.C. Cheerleaders' Grief Leads to Action." Although they mixed
up a couple of facts (Oct versus Feb /06) it was excellent coverage of this successful program and the life that is remembered.
CBS reporter
Suzie Suh interviewed Varsity Cheer Co-Captain, Julie Yamaguchi who spoke about her best friend, Shauna; Lori Stuewe
discussed the AEDs that were demonstrated on the newscast, and Kirk Stuewe expressed his family's "calling" to help
prevent sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) from taking more young people. There are brief clips of the team
doing toe touches in front of the District offices, plus video of our girls shaking hands with the school board
members. See the CBS2 video hyperlink above.
| Cheer and Songleaders shake hands w - School Board |
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| Sunrise Yorba Linda Rotary, The Stuewe Family, and Esperanza Cheer & Songleaders congratuatated. |
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