With helmet stickers, hair bows, jersey ribbons and plans for a special award, students and staff at Francis Parker School are honoring the memory of varsity cheer coach Brooke Powers Wilson as teams head into CIF playoff season.
Wilson died of melanoma Oct. 19. A celebration of life was held Nov. 2 at the Malibu Nature Preserve. She was 33.
Brooke Rose Powers Wilson joined the Parker family in 2010 and is remembered as a role model of passion and strength.
"During her time at Parker, she put an immense amount of dedication and love into the cheer program," team co-captain Hannah Lettington said in farewell comments at an Upper School assembly. "She created the Middle School cheer program as well as introducing a cheer team to the Lower School."
Calling her coach "one of the craftiest ladies you'll ever meet," senior Hannah said Wilson would sew in the stands and make all the bows worn and boxes stood on at games.
She was diagnosed with skin cancer in February 2013 but continued to support Parker cheerleaders until her final days.
"At times she gave our team more attention than she did herself," said Margaret MacVean, the other cheer co-captain. "Even once she was hospitalized, she did not let that hold her back. She would Facetime us to teach us choreography and constantly requested video updates of how our skills were coming along."
The cheer routine performed at Homecoming a day before her passing was her vision and final gift to the school, Margaret said at the Town Hall, adding: "It was her idea to combine cheer and dance team forces. ... Although she was in the hospital, she was able to ... watch halftime live. We are so grateful to have been influenced by her perseverance and so honored to have been able to make her dream come true in her final days."
At Parker, varsity football players have added the letters BW to their helmets in remembrance of Wilson. The girls volleyball team players have sewn pink ribbons on their jerseys.
Michael Stutts, Wilson's assistant, said the team has ordered special hair bows in memory of their beloved leader.
"We will also be dedicating a place in the cheer/multipurpose room specifically to her and making a new award to hand out each year to a cheerleader who the team feels has set an example of Brooke's passion for the sport and for life," said Stutts, taking over as head coach.
Stutts worked with Wilson for only two months.
"However in that time, as short as it was, her positive spirit and passion had a large effect on me," Stutts said. "Just getting to know her a little, I quickly saw how many different things she was involved with and how hard she worked at all of them, on top of her fight with cancer."
While hospitalized, Wilson would text Stutts for information about the team and constantly asked for videos of their progress, he said.
"Her love for Parker and the Parker cheer team was something rare and very special," he said. "I'm very thankful for getting to work with her for the time in which I did, and hope to continue spreading her energy and love for cheer into every future athlete I work with."
Lettington told the Oct. 21 Field House assembly:
"We all benefited from the passion she shared for cheer, the strength she exhibited throughout her fight against Melanoma, and the inner and outer beauty she possessed. She always led us by example and served as a role model for what a cheerleader, and woman, should be like.
"She was much more than a cheer coach, and we hope the Parker community can remember and honor her legacy as the women that gave her all to the program. She will forever hold a place in our hearts."
Wilson is survived by John Wilson, her husband of four years; her parents, Barbara Tullo Booth and Kevin Powers; and her mother-in-law, Sheri Williams.
More details: Los Angeles Times death notice
Caption: Brooke Wilson, a high school and collegiate competitive dancer and cheerleader, earned a degree in Communication Studies from California State University, Northridge, and coached cheerleading and gymnastics throughout the Los Angeles area, including 15 years with the city's Department of Recreation & Parks before moving to San Diego.