Spartan Spirit Soars: How East’s Inclusive cheer team is uniting more students

November 6, 2025

East High School is spreading more school S-P-I-R-I-T at home games on the sidelines with a new opportunity for its students. 

The Spartans added an inclusive cheerleading team last fall, which has doubled in size after one year. It went from four members in 2024 to eight this school year. This year’s team consisted of Alyssa, Anna, Mariah, Desiree, Sophia, Elly, Chloe and Hillary. 

“I feel amazing, honestly, because I get to see all my friends cheer with them, and it just makes me happy and just makes my day when I get to cheer with all my friends and do that kind of stuff and get involved,” Senior Alyssa said. She’s one of the team’s newest cheerleaders. 

Coaches Sydney Mickells and Anna Schulz got the idea to form the squad from another LPS high school and an inquiry from an incoming ninth grade parent. A future Spartan mom asked Mickells, the school’s head varsity cheerleading coach, if she had ever considered creating an inclusive cheer team while looking for high school activities for her daughter. 

“I think it's just really important that we are providing an opportunity for students with disabilities to be a part of, you know, their school community and school spirit,” Mickells said. 

That’s when Mickells, who is also a special education teacher at Robinson Elementary School, tapped the shoulder of her colleague Schulz to serve as a co-coach to start one. Schulz works as a speech-language pathologist at Robinson and East.  

“I said yes immediately, but I was like, ‘There's one problem. I know nothing about cheerleading.’ I was a basketball player,” Schulz said. “But I know everything about these girls because I was their speech-language pathologist, so I knew behavior plans, strategies to increase success.”

The pair not only collaborates to gather staff recommendations for new members, but also to find ways to adapt cheerleading techniques and routines to make them accessible to all their athletes and boost their confidence. Both coaches also noted the amount of development they’ve seen in the team over the season. 

“Last game, we couldn't believe their technique. It was so beautiful and so much progress,” Schulz said. “They are capable, like I don't know if people really understand how capable our girls are, but seeing them cheer and get the techniques down. Holy cow! They're so capable in every way, more than cheer.”

“We're just feeling so proud of them,” Mickells said. “Just a really big sense of pride seeing them out there and seeing them be really, really brave and just shine honestly in front of the school.” 

This year, the team cheered during volleyball and football matches. The inclusive cheerleaders worked to hype up Spartan fans during home games with East’s varsity cheer squad. The varsity members worked with their new teammates on basic cheerleading skills, such as arm motions, jumps, kicks and crowd involvement, also known as “spiriting.” The coaches said the spiriting aspect is the athletes’ favorite part. Their spirit also brightens the overall atmosphere for their varsity peers. 

“The thing that I like the most about our inclusive cheer team is the positive environment and how just being with those girls for one minute can make my day so much better,” East varsity cheer co-captain and senior Ava said. 

The positivity has also been a favorite part of the experience for Alyssa and her fellow teammates Anna and Mariah. Both seniors, Mariah and Anna are returners to the inclusive team. Anna has been its captain for two years and Mariah now cheers alongside her younger sister, Desiree, who joined this fall.

The cheerleaders added that there’s more to hear than just chants and the rustling of pom-poms at East sporting events. You can also hear laughter and the new bonds forging. They shared that the relationship building among the squads and the coaches has been a highlight.  

“Working with my new teammates on the inclusive cheer team has been a blast, and I love how close I have gotten with all of them,” Ava said. 

“I love all my cheer people and friends, and I also love you both, Miss Schulz and you (Coach Mickells),” Alyssa said.  

If you’re looking for ways to get involved at Lincoln Public Schools, check out our Athletics and Activities page on our website at https://home.lps.org/athletics/ for more opportunities. 

 
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