For the first time in seven years, pom poms, sideline cheers and a halftime dance are again part of Friday nights at New Glarus High School. But for Ava Krause, the return of poms is about more than adding something to a football game. It is about restoring a tradition and giving another group of students a place to belong.

“There is a special feeling about cheering under the Friday Night Lights,” Krause said. “From the sun setting over the Driftless Region to the generations of families who come to support their hometown team, poms needed to once again be part of the New Glarus High School experience.”

Krause moved to New Glarus in the summer of 2025 and that August accepted a position coaching middle school volleyball. She said the experience showed her how rewarding it could be to help shape a student’s school experience. When volleyball season ended, she began thinking about where her own background could make an even greater contribution. Krause had spent four years as a collegiate poms dancer.

In March, Krause met with Mitchell Cernek, New Glarus athletic director, and Jeff Worzella, New Glarus High School principal, to propose bringing a poms team back to New Glarus. Flyers went up around the high school and middle school, followed by an interest form for dancers as well as students who wanted leadership roles without performing.