FORT OGLETHORPE, Ga. – It was a little less than a year ago that Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School made national headlines when it banned cheerleaders from making Bible-verse banners for the football team to run through.
Today, the school has a new principal, new cheerleading squad members and a change in focus on Bible verses as a show of school spirit.
New principal Terri Vandiver said last year’s ban leaves no questions for this season, which starts tonight as LFO takes on in-county rival Ringgold High School at home. No Bible verses are allowed on the field, although fans can have them in the stands, the same rules as last year, she said.
“We corrected our signs and followed the Constitution, so we are just maintaining that this year. It was one of those things we’ve put behind us,” said Vandiver, who succeeded retiring principal Jerry Ransom at the end of the last school year.
Senior LFO football cheerleaders Kaleigh Akins and Kelsey Curtis, both 17, said the squad drew on fellow students to make the football banners special this year despite last year’s controversy.