Renis, Wyoming Park cheer in good
health

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

By Steve
Ungrey

The Grand Rapids Press

Changing
bedpans, cleaning teeth and feeding patients are just as much a part of
Amanda Renis' life as learning dismounts, twirling
in the air and cheering.

The Wyoming Park senior is learning all about the
life of being a certified nurses assistant at the
same time she is enjoying her final season as a Vikings cheerleader.

"I go to Kent Career Technical Center," Renis
said. "You can do it your junior and senior year. The first year you
learn basic things and then the second year you get into more clinical stuff
and see if that's what you really want to do."

Renis and her teammate, Sara Pierce, who is also a
senior, go to KCTC for training to become certified nurses
assistants, which is the first step toward becoming a full-fledged nurse someday.

Once Renis graduates from Wyoming Park, she will enroll in Grand Rapids Community College for two years and likely transfer
to a four-year college after that.

"This is like the first step. You have to start somewhere low and build
your experience from there," Renis said.

That experience involves working for two and a half hours each day at Brookcrest Nursing Home along with Pierce. All of Renis' work there contributes toward high school credits
and eventual college credits in the nursing field.

In short, think about all of the Advanced Placement
courses students take and you have an idea what Renis
has ahead of her.

"We pretty much do anything and everything. We have an actual nurses aide there to watch us," Renis
said. "We feed them, dress them, clean their teeth you're essentially
being watched and getting help."

Having a best friend to go through this program has helped Renis a great deal. She wanted Pierce to join her in
nurses training, and the two have attended classes together and worked at Brookcrest.

It is a friendship that extends away from cheerleading and into the working
world.

"We do a lot of things together like going to work and going to
cheer," Renis said. "We definitely wanted
to work it out this way. There are three different KCTC sessions and we
worked it out so we could attend at the same time. We wanted to stay
interested in this and we're friends so we're working it out the right
way."

Wyoming Park

·
Coach: Amanda Van Ess, first year

·
Conference: O-K Green

·
Top returners: Seniors Sara Pierce, Amanda Renis,
Deanna Banning and Alyssa Wiggers

·
Newcomers: Freshman Alexis Jacobus and
sophomores Jenn Voss and Shelby Halas

·
Outlook: The Vikings have a mix of strength up top in the senior class
and inexperience. There figures to be growing pains as the two mesh.

·
Coach's comment: "We are looking to our returning seniors for
leadership because our team is young and small. Our underclassmen are doing a
great job stepping up for our team."

·
Key date: Jan. 21, Wyoming Park conference meet