Blue Crew, a new club promoting school spirit, continues evolving as its first active year progresses.

Senior Erin Stanfill, with the help and sponsorship of aquatic science teacher Brittnee Hooks, founded the club in April after seeing a similar club at a nearby high school.

“Klein has something like Blue Crew, and I liked it,” Stanfill said. “I went up to [Hooks] and told her about it and she said ‘Yeah!’”

Students interested in joining Blue Crew need to apply and meet certain criteria.

“They have to have a recommendation from all of their teachers,” Hooks said. “[And] they have to maintain at least a 70 average in all of their classes.”

Blue Crew has also started accepting juniors as members. Last spring, the club only allowed seniors to gain membership.
“[We are] opening up Blue Crew to juniors so there is no animosity between grade levels,” Hooks said.

The club, which has about 28 members, meets every other Wednesday, during which the students plan how to boost school enthusiasm.

“During meetings, we discuss what we need to do for the week’s games,” Hooks said. “And how we can work with other groups on campus to help promote spirit, paint signs, etc. Depends on the week.”

While Blue Crew makes itself seen around the school, the club focuses on attending sporting competitions. They dress only in white and blue and rally the spectators.

“During games, to promote spirit, they work with cheer to get the crowd involved,” Hooks said. “And are just loud to let the players know we are there.”

Senior member Yahaira Pedraza said she enjoys cheering alongside her fellow club members.

“I love them, they are my best friends,” she said. “We all have so much school spirit, especially when we are together.”

Pedraza said she believes the athletes are very pleased with Blue Crew’s excitement.

“I think they really like it,” she said. “Because, when I went and talked to the football players, they say that they can hear us like all the way from the field, and they really like it because it gives them energy.”

Senior cheerleader Aliyah Forte said she appreciates Blue Crew’s efforts.

“I like that they chant along with us and they help to get the crowd pumped,” she said.

However, another sports fan, senior Lauryn Wasicek, said Blue Crew has shown some annoying and problematic behavior.

“They make me mad,” Wasicek said. “They kicked me and my friends out of first row [and were] pushing people around.”

Hooks said the issue did not go unnoticed and she took steps to resolve the problem.

“I addressed the issue during our meeting based on seeing it for myself,“ Hooks said. “I was down in the student section. I told them they needed to show up early in order to get front row spots. This has alleviated the issue.”

Spectator Ben Anderson, who attended the Cy Falls game, said he thought Blue Crew could cheer louder.

“I can hear the people over there better,” he said, referring to Falls’ student section.

And while supporter senior Jessica Harden also said she thinks the group needs to be louder, she still loves experiencing and cheering alongside Blue Crew.

“It’s exciting,” Harden said. “It’s better than any of the other [schools’] crews.”