GiGi’s Playhouse was the perfect fit!

My name is Francesca Lenzi and I learned about GiGi’s Playhouse through my cousin.  My cousin had been connected with GiGi’s because their family friend’s son has gone to GiGi’s since he was young. I participated in the 5k when I was younger and I am currently a program volunteer as the coach of two cheerleading teams; the senior and Junior Cheer Gems teams. I guess you can say I was chosen to volunteer this way. I came to GiGi’s Playhouse seeking an internship and they asked if I wanted to run the program since I am a dance teacher. I thought it was a perfect fit! I think the smile on each girl’s face says enough! I also love it because I have not only seen the girls grow individually, but as a team, which is something not every volunteer gets to witness. Teamwork is a life skill that can be very difficult to teach in a controlled setting- Cheer Gems is the perfect setting. Staff and families are willing to go above and beyond. This isn’t a program that meets once a week. It requires outside communication with getting uniforms and finding new performance opportunities. All staff, family, and participants seem eager to step out into the community and do more. My favorite story repeats every week. Each practice we go over Pom motions. One motion is called T, one girl’s name starts with a T so she says her name every time after we do T. While another team member wants to say her name so she then shouts out her name. It’s funny to me, but reminds me that we all want to be noticed and special- there’s nothing wrong with being special.

Francesca Lenzi

Cheer Gems Coach