Since it was established in 1985, cheerleading squads representing Millbury-based Kid’s World have won state and national championships.

Kid’s World owners Mike and Lonna Meadows are now looking to put together a squad to compete in a Special Needs category. Their Special Needs team currently has four members, but they’d like more.

“It’s for girls who have disabilities, and they wanted to have a cheer group. This is our first year doing it with this. We’d like to have more girls, or guys. Guys do it, too,” Lonna said.

“As we go into competitions, they have Special Needs categories which have anywhere from three girls to some squads that have 20 on them,” Lonna said. “When we go into competitions, there are a lot of Special Needs teams around.”

Team members Kim Smith and Anna Verb. Not pictured: Lexi Barrett and Krystal Studivan. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)

Mike exclaimed, “We’re excited about it. They enjoy it. The main thing about the kids is they can do it at any age.

“One of the girls who has been coming to the gym for a long time, her sister, is one of the Special Needs girls. That’s how we got involved in it because we knew that she wanted to do it, so we got involved with it in that way and out of word of mouth we got some more kids out of it. We’d like to get more. We’ve got to make room for more,” Mike added.

Lonna said there can be rule adjustments for cheerleaders living with disabilities.

“They do a two-and-a-half minute routine. There is some variation, depending on their disability what we can do tumbling-wise or mounting-wise with them,” Lonna said. “They feel like they are part of a group and they really enjoy competing. I see them getting a lot of confidence out of it and they have a good time.”

Twenty-nine-year-old Kimberly Smith, a West Toledo resident who volunteers for Kid’s World, is leading the drive to find more members. She was on a team that recently won a Gold Medal at Ohio State University.

Smith signed up 14-year-old Anna Verb, an Oregon resident who attends Eisenhower Middle School.

“I just met Anna this season, and I just started it. We’re trying to get more people to do cheerleading with us. It’s just fun to do,” Smith said. “We have a blast and we cheer on other teams.”

Anna’s mother, Debbie Verb, said, “She’s done this before. She really loves it. You can see the smile on her face and tears in her eyes. It’s a great thing. She can do a lot of dances and stuff. She watches the cheerleading shows and stuff and she gets her moves from them.

Anna, who has already won individual trophies in cheerleading, added, “You get a lot of dance moves, and then you have to get more practices. I like the dances.”

Other team members that have already signed on include Lexi Barrett and Krystal Studivan.

E-mail Kimberly Smith at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 419-836-7598.

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