Everybody has their own special superstitions. Some people believe walking under ladders and walking past black cats is bad luck, others believe petting their school’s mascot statue will bring them good luck on finals, but here at Arvada West, the Varsity Cheerleading team has a special one of their own. 

His name is Kyle. He is a cheer leading skeleton who travels to all competitions with the team. He was originally brought to the team back in 2017 by Leo Cernohous and Kyla Turner, previous members of the team. This is where he got his name. They combined the first 2 letters of their names. Ky for Kyla and Le for Leo.

“Kyla and I found him and thought it would be fun to start a new tradition from the cheer competitions. Most teams just get a boring Build-A-Bear that the coaches hold. Instead, we thought it would be humorous to get a skeleton cheerleader that the athletes hold,” says Cernohouse.

Since Cernohous graduated in 2019, Kyle had to be given to someone new on the team who could take care of him. Someone who would take him to all the competitions and make sure he stays present.

Cernohous says, “For his first two years I held onto him and brought him to every competition and then passed him off in a trash bag to Jessica Hickey at the 2019 banquet. I wasn’t sure the tradition was going to stick, but it certainly got noticed by the other schools.”

After all these years, the idea of Kyle has not changed, even with girls coming and going.

A 4 year returning senior, Hailey Tarango, says, “He represents tradition on our team. We kind of think of him as a mascot and as a good luck charm. He’s also become sort of an inside joke between the girls on the team which makes it even funnier.”

Kyle the Skeleton is now 4 years old and he is not going anywhere anytime soon. He brings light and comfort to the team as they enter each competition. As the years progress, Kyle will hold memories for all the team members that they will never forget.