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ABC12 Spirit Squad wraps for year

Friday, May 22, 2009

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Marc Jacobson
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MID-MICHIGAN (WJRT) -- (05/22/09)--Over the last four and a half months, the ABC12 Spirit Squad has traveled all over Mid-Michigan.

The whole time, students have come together for a common goal: to show school spirit and help those in need.

Competition for the school year has wrapped up, and Friday morning, we crowned our champions.

ABC12's School Spirit Challenge motivated thousands of students across the region to show their school and community pride by bringing in food and funds for the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.

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The spirit was so strong it produced not one, but two champions.

The ABC12 Spirit Squad capped off the semester long effort by heading back to Flint Central High School to honor the Phoenix for raising more than 71,000 pounds of food.

Flint Central is scheduled to close its doors for good in a matter of weeks. The Phoenix was proud to go out with bang, honoring 86 years of rich history and tradition.

Owosso, Corunna and Beecher were also honored at Flint Central for their strong efforts.

"This trophy is going right in the display case," said Eugene Pratt. "We're very proud of it. It ranks right up there with our state championships because the whole community got involved."

"Our student council got together and decided it would be a nice thing to do for the community," said Owosso student Andrew Schawrnowske.

"It just shows how students from different backgrounds can come together," said Corunna High School student Luke Edington.

From the concrete to the cornfields, Part II of our Spirit Squad finale took us to North Branch, where there were more tractors than cars in the parking lot.

Along with a slew of ponies and cows, the Broncos were crowned co-champions after bringing in more than 65,000 pounds of food.

Knowing that they claimed the coveted Spirit Cup was enough to whet the appetites of North Branch's legendary Green Coats Crew.

Also honored for their efforts at North Branch was a pair of Spirit Challenge all stars -- Lakeville and Lapeer East high schools.

The Spirit Challenge received a final boost thanks to a $250 contribution from Thompson Creek Turkey Farm and Deli.

On top of that, the North Branch Food Center and Great North Foods threw in another donation of 7,900 pounds of food.

"To put it in perspective, this has made over a quarter of a million pounds, and around 167,000 meals," said Tracy Fowler Johnston.

And with that, the quest for the coveted ABC12 Spirit Cup wrapped up for this year.

Over the course of the semester, kids from all over Mid-Michigan have raised a total of more than 250,000 pounds of food.

It's not going to end there. We'll start it all over again next fall.