State College middle school students to cheer in Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade

Local residents may see a few familiar faces on their screens this Thanksgiving as four State College Area students will be performing in the Philadelphia parade.

Mia Fiore, an eighth grader at Mount Nittany Middle School, has been cheering for four years but this will be her first time performing with All-American cheerleaders for the parade. The Dunkin’ Thanksgiving Day Parade is the oldest in the nation and airs on 6ABC from 9 a.m.-noon.

Fiore will be joined by several of her seventh-grade cheer teammates, Jaycee Clause, Chloe Klinger, Nora Loht, Amaris King and Cadence Amos. This summer, they were selected for the team at a Universal Cheerleaders Association camp.

“They picked a few people that they thought demonstrated the dance really well and had good showmanship and everything,” Fiore said.

Fiore and her teammates arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday to prepare for long hours of practice before their 4 a.m. call time on Thanksgiving Day. Fiore is looking forward to tumbling and stunting for the crowd, her favorite part of cheering.

Although Fiore has cheered at competitions and Harlem Globetrotters events, the parade will be her largest event to date.

“I’m always looking forward to performing for people,” Fiore said. “I love performing for people no matter if it’s my family, my friends, or my school.”

Fiore, who was named captain of the Mount Nittany team this year, also enjoys helping the younger members of her team. She enjoys being a leader and guide to the seventh graders, who are new to the team this year.

“Everyone’s all so nice and so supportive and it’s fun to get together after a competition,” Fiore said. “Sometimes we’ll go out to dinner or do fun things together or team bonding and stuff.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 7:00 AM.