This Legacy post is by Mara Mapes. I am excited to share this with you! Mara was one of my track girls and this is a super huge #proudcoach moment!

*Legacy posts are from girls who have been there, played hard, and learned an awful lot along the way!

For those who don’t know, The Sparkle Effect is a national non-profit that supports high school and college students to start cheer and dance teams. These teams include those with and without disabilities. The mission is to promote and demonstrate the importance of inclusion, school spirit, and the important differences each and every one of us bring to this world.

My senior year, along with two of my friends, we decided that our high school, Waukee, would benefit from having an all-inclusive cheerleading team. So, we asked around and started a team with the help of The Sparkle Effect. We got uniforms, bows, shoes, the whole shebang. We got together all who were interested and began practices. I will never forget the first football game we cheered at.

Sparkle was in front of the crowd, with both smiling and nervous faces, ready to cheer for the first time. After we cheered, the lights still beaming on us, we saw the entire crowd give us a standing ovation. As a team, half of us had tears in our eyes. It was the most rewarding moment, I thought, I would ever have.

Fast forward a bit to Homecoming Coronation night. My friends and I were taking pictures, smiling for our moms, and laughing because we knew we would be talking about this night for many years to come. It was even more exciting when I was announced Homecoming Queen and all my friends clapped and cheered me on. We then, of course, took more pictures after the ceremony was over. You’re thinking, what does this have anything to do with Sparkle? Well what comes next honestly, to this day is one of the most rewarding and touching moments of my life.

Amidst all the pictures and hugs, I was tapped on the shoulder by a parent, a father. He asked if he could talk to me for a moment. We stepped aside and he started to tell me a story… A story of his daughter, whom, before Sparkle, did not have friends. She was not confident in making friends, and felt very isolated. He started to cry and said, “she begged me to take her here tonight. She told me she needed to see her best friend crowned queen.” Me, being very moved by this story hugged the man and he continued to say, “Mara, you don’t understand, she has never used the word ‘friend’ before. Sparkle has changed my daughter’s life.”

“You don’t understand, she has never used the word ‘friend’ before. Sparkle has changed my daughter’s life.”

And that was the moment my eyes were opened to what is so special about this life. He showed me the difference anybody can make. My friends and I, had no idea the impact Sparkle would be…and truly the students that may have the so called “disability” honestly changed us much more than we ever could do for them.

I am now a junior at Iowa State University and I have lost absolutely no interest in Sparkle. It has captured me and has shaped me to be a more understanding, humble, and spirited leader.

Freshman year at college, my friend, Hali Weimerskirch and I began brainstorming how we could start a college Sparkle team for ISU. We tossed ideas around and started the process of starting a team. By the next year, we began the ISU Sparkles Squad. On our team that first year we had about 14 students from ISU and about 10 in the community with various disabilities. We practiced and performed starting second semester. Being the first year, we were a little lost on how to lead such a diverse team. We had some ladies that were 19 years old and freshmen in college, and we also had some ladies in their 30’s. We got the hang of it, and learned the best and most influential way to lead these amazing, diverse, and beautiful women, was to be accepting and understanding of their various needs and strengths.

Leading people that are so diverse and unique is the best way to become a person of acceptance and open mindedness. I can truly say that I have seen every person in Sparkles become more humble, accepting, and understanding.

It is now the second year for ISU Sparkles. I lead this team with Savannah Farner. (Leading with somebody who is much more organized and wise than me is such a treat, and I cannot thank my co-cap enough for how amazing and genuine she is. THANKS SAV!). We have new and old members on our team, and I can truly say these ladies are some of my very best friends. The spirit each one of us bring is authentic and perfect for our team’s cohesiveness and the way we operate at our practices and performances. The growth that has been shown through our teammates is probably the most rewarding part of Sparkle.

“The growth shown through our teammates is probably the most rewarding part of Sparkle.”

The beginning of this year ISU Sparkles gained an amazing new teammate. She was not social, she only communicated through questions, and was overwhelmed with anxiety of falling or getting hurt. She would not walk down or up stairs, she wouldn’t walk further than 20 steps without expressing her fear, and she was a pretty worried and unhappy woman. It is now the end of January, and she is kicking her leg like a cheerleader would, moving her arms during the cheers, walking up and down stairs, and smiling and laughing with her team. She has truly transformed. Her mom expressed to me one day that she has tried everything to help her daughter. From different doctors, therapists, clinics, and nothing has helped. Not until she joined Sparkles. Her mom calls it a miracle, that all her daughter needed was some cheerleaders to shape her into an even happier and more beautiful woman. This.

This is exactly what Sparkle is about. Bringing out the best in one another and accepting the different and amazing qualities we all bring to this world.

Learn more about ISU Sparkles from this short YouTube video. See how it could impact your school