Dear Editor,
Twenty years ago three small town girls embarked on a journey in which their paths would cross in Great Bend. These girls came to Great Bend to attend Barton County Community College to simply fulfill their childhood dreams of becoming college cheerleaders. Little did they know that because of cheerleading, they would become lifelong friends, that their lives would be forever changed, molded, and shaped by the one person they had in common: their coach, Debbie Warren.
Away from home for the first time, Debbie soon became the pivotal person in our lives. Becoming better athletes was only one of the many things she would teach us over the years. Here are just a few things we small town girls learned from Debbie Warren.
Lesson one: Respect. She taught us to respect ourselves, our coach, the sport of cheerleading, our teammates, our teachers, and most of all the college and the community. Debbie was adamant that we represented ourselves as positive ambassadors of BCCC in each and every interaction we had in the community. Because of her influence over the last 27 years, the community of Great Bend has been positively impacted by young adults who were learning how to become productive, respectable members of society. 
Lesson two: Perseverance. Debbie taught us to do things not once, but 99 times. Literally. It didn’t matter how well we nailed our routine, we were going to do it 99 more times, because “you perform it like you practice it.” Imagine how many kids who went through her program grew into adults who are able to persevere, try it again, never give up, and keep going in the face of adversity. All because Debbie Warren taught them to do things not once, but 99 times.
Lesson three: You are student athletes, You are role models. Debbie taught us that one of our biggest responsibilities as cheerleaders was to fulfill the leadership role. This leadership role was not limited to the BCCC gymnasium or nationals competitions. Debbie made a point for our squad to make appearances at grade schools, parades, community events, and non-sporting college events. We taught cheerleading clinics to grade school kids, went to local schools to “say no to drugs,” organized golf tournaments, traveled throughout the state conducting cheerleading camps and judged high school tryouts, just to name a few. Not all communities are fortunate enough to have that kind of involvement from their college cheerleaders. Debbie didn’t do this because she wanted recognition. She did this because she wanted to give back to the community she so dearly loves. She did this to teach young adults how to be leaders, not only on the court, but also in the community.
Lesson four: Go out into the world and make something of yourselves. Debbie didn’t even question that we would succeed in life. Failure just wasn’t an option in her book, and when you are surrounded by that kind of attitude, you begin to believe it. So those three small town girls all went on to do big things. We all went on to cheer at Division 1 schools (a feat that would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Debbie’s coaching). We all went on to coach cheerleading at both the high school and college level (one of us was even lucky enough to come back and serve as Debbie’s assistant for five years). We all went on to get our college degrees (and two of us received master’s degrees). We all went on to work with kids and young adults, hoping to touch their lives in the positive ways Debbie has touched ours. 
The effects are like ripples on a pond. Debbie has literally influenced thousands of young adults in her 27 years of coaching. And those thousands of young adults touched hundreds of lives while they were in the Great Bend community, and once they moved on, well you can do the math. So, citizens of Great Bend, do you really want to lose such an influential, pivotal woman in your community? We’re guessing not, so we urge you to fight along with us to keep Debbie Warren as the cheerleading coach at Barton County Community College.  Contact the president, contact the board of trustees, contact any and all members of the administration. Then do it 99 more times.
Kimberly (Bowe) Brauman,
Hamilton, Mont.,
former assistant coach;
Cyndi McNeil,
and Georgia (Rupp) Prince