Tia Sherman, a Riverside Brookfield High School alumni and current Algebra and Algebra ll teacher, has taken the position as the new varsity poms coach. Sherman danced with Orchesis, the Repertory Dance Company, and was a member of the poms team when she attended RB. She also went to DePaul University and danced with their college team, where she continued to grow her passion for dancing and teaching.
Sherman is extremely enthusiastic about dance, as it has been a prominent part of her life throughout her high school and college years. She has a lot of experience in and outside of RB and is delighted to share her knowledge and passion with the team.
“This is my first year coaching varsity poms at RB. However, I have a history of coaching. I taught at Lyons Township High School straight out of college for about 6 and half years, and I coached their poms program for that time,” Sherman said.
Sherman facilitates a warm, welcoming community for both the junior varsity and varsity team. The teams practice three times a week for two hours and perform at all of the home football games during halftime.
“I really enjoy working with the girls. I like being creative with them and seeing what they bring and then working collectively to make it really a great masterpiece on the field for the community to watch,” Sherman said.
Both teams have been working hard to fundraise money for the program. They got a huge head-start by beginning incentives and fundraising in the summer such as a car wash where the team raised around $1,000.
“The Poms season starts in June, and we’ve been doing stuff all summer long. We held a youth summer camp and we had about 80 participants from the community come, and that was really fun,” Sherman said. “We did a Vertical Raise fundraiser. We had another youth clinic, and we sold out. We had 114 little kids coming to dance with the girls, and they got to dance at halftime of the varsity football game. We also did a car wash a couple weeks back to kind of kick off our fall season to raise some money.”
Lauren Sanduski, a senior at RB who has been on the varsity poms team for three years, enjoys learning and working with the new coach as she finishes up her last year here at RB.
“I really love how Mrs. Sherman is really inclusive and she makes everyone feel like they’re a part of the team, and they belong on the team. She really hypes us up and makes it fun,” Sanduski said.
Sanduski appreciates how the team communicates openly across the board and how everyone gets to express their ideas regarding choreography during practices. The team works together in order to create their final dances.
“This year, we are talking as a team, and we make decisions as a team,” Sanduski said. “She makes the choreography very open, so two people will choreograph it, and she helps make it even better. She’ll take stuff out and make it stronger, but she’s open to other people’s ideas, so it’s like a big group effort.”
Sherman is excited for what the future holds for poms. There are many seniors graduating this year, but everyone is excited to keep the program up and running to its fullest potential.
“They’re a force to be reckoned with. They are really talented, and they are dancing so well together. They’re just a really tight group. I think they’re special, and I think that we are gonna continue to have a really great season, and they’ve been really kind to one another and just really working together well. They’re a great group,” Sherman said.
