By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
âRight now, Iâm just doing my thing.â
Diana Kerner is confident. The 18-year-old returning student at LaVergne High School is not afraid to express how sheâs feeling or what she thinks. Sheâs also kind, giving and never walks away without sharing some words of encouragement, especially among her fellow cheer team members.
âDiana brings a very vivacious personality,â said Hailey OâConner, who is in her first year coaching the team. âSheâs our biggest supporter and sheâll tell us straight up, âLadies, weâre not doing so wellâ or âthis is so great. Weâre awesome.â
âSheâs always there. Sheâs honest and sheâs supportive.â
Kerner graduated from LaVergne last year as part of the Class of 2019, but special education students can return to school until they are 22 years old.
She likes math and spelling, recently started working at Kroger as part of a work-based learning program and enjoys when shoppers âstop and say hello.â
Diana and her twin sister Lauren had a duo â Diana sang and played guitar, while Lauren played drums â but Diana said they’re doing their own thing now.
This is the first school year since Kerner arrived at LaVergne that she has not had Autumn Shands as her special education CDC teach. Instead, this year, Lauren is with Shands while Diana moved to a classroom across the hall.
âItâs good for both of them to experience new instructors and teachers,â said Shands, who joked that sheâs now âpart of the fun stuffâ throughout Dianaâs day.
For Kerner, who has her own edgy style and plans to pursue fashion design at Middle Tennessee State University, nothing is more fun than cheerleading.
Last year was her first with the team and she is participating again this year during the football and basketball seasons.
âI get excited,â Kerner said. âI like to dance to different songs.â
The team practices every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after school. They practiced the same three days all summer from 8-10 a.m. in the heat.
âEvery day she was there sweating with us,â OâConner said, âlearning these cheers.â
One particular day, the team was working on a new pyramid.
It was hot and it got frustrating for everyone, which also made it emotional.
OâConnor recalled Kernerâs honesty that morning as âreally funny.â
âWe were really struggling,â OâConnor said. âWe had just come back from Premiere and âĤ it was not going well. I was like, âDiana, what do you think about this?ââ
She replied, âItâs not great.â
âI know,â OâConnor said, âbut do you think weâre going to get there?â
Without pondering her reply, Kerner quickly said, âOh yeah.â
Kerner and the rest of the LaVergne cheer team have five regular-season games remaining on their schedule, including a trio of home games on October 11, 18 and 25 before focusing on the fast-approaching basketball season.
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