AMERICANWAY

Cheerleader — is f lat-out bizarre. A nd it 's supposed to be. "We want to playfully chal- lenge the stereot y pes that apply to both scientists and cheerleaders," says Darlene Cavalier, a former Philadel- phia 76ers cheerleader who f o u n d e d S c i e n c e C h e e r - leader and has been organiz- ing the group's appearances since 2011. Today, Science Cheerleader comprises 250 current and former profes- sional cheerleaders, many of whom worked for NBA and NFL teams and all of whom are either pursuing degrees in science, tech- nolog y, engineering and math ( know n as STEM) or are already working in those fi elds. Take a second if you need to absorb that number: T wo hundred f if t y professiona l cheerleaders a re a lso ex per ts in science. T ' a nnua l USA Science & Eng i- neering Festival in Washington, D.C.: National Security Agency eavesdropping equipment, a human-space- f light simulator, Bill Nye the Science Guy and all manner of robots. Robots that look and act like ocelots; robots that dance; even a group of tiny, fl ying drones that bounce o musical instruments, somehow playing the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. There are also cheerleaders. A dozen of them in perform ance attire: red, white and blue span- dex outfi ts and white go-go boots. They per- form dance routines to the '80s hits "Weird Science" and "She Blinded Me With Science." They lead crowds that include dozens of young girls in chants like "Gooo Science!" and "Gimme an 'S!'" These are pros — cheerleaders who are ei- ther current or former members of the cheer squads for NFL (including the Baltimore Ravens, the Miami Dolphins, the Oakland Raiders and the Washington Redskins) and N BA (Orlando Mag ic) teams. But there's something else; something an enthusiastic emcee points out: "These ladies are also sci- entists and engineers. Woo!" I f w atch i ng d r ones play i ng mu sic i s weird, hearing someone "woo-ing " about scientists — scientists in dance costumes who are members of a group called Science EDUCATION Rocket Science CHEERLEADERS and SCIENCE might not make the most obvious pair, but the group known by those two words is working to change that stereotype — one chant at a time. Maybe it's ridiculous to be surprised by that. After all, didn't Marcia Brady (if no one else) teach us four decades ago that girls can do anything boys can do? And, yet, there's still something about the idea that Dana from the Ravens is a systems engineer; that Kelly from the New England Patriots is a doctora l ca n- didate in psycholog y; that Julia from the Washington Wizards has degrees in en- v i ron ment a l science a nd marine biolog y; that Kiara from the Tennessee Titans has a Master 's in public hea lth; and that Wendy from the Raiders is a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering at the University of California, Davis. In addition to t he R a ider s , Wendy 250 NUMBER OF CURRENT AND FORMER PROFESSIONAL CHEERLEADERS WHO MAKE UP SCIENCE CHEERLEADER 5 8 N OV E M B E R 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY

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