The University of Virginia/Arbuckle Cheerleading Scholarship has been established with the Greater Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation (GVCF) to support students at Greenbrier East High School who have participated in cheerleading. The award will be part of the Greenbrier County Scholarship Program.
The scholarship was created by Jim Arbuckle of Lewisburg because of his fond memories of his school days at Greenbrier East High School, plus many teachers who helped shape his life.
Arbuckle has been a sponsor for the University of Virginia (UVA) cheerleading program for over 20 years. He attends practice, has judged tryouts and has visited dozens of Virginia high schools talking about the UVA cheer program. He helped establish a scholarship for various high schools, where a high school cheerleader could receive aid, should she or he make the UVA cheerleading team, He has judged dozen of high school tryouts, including Greenbrier East. Each year he organizes and invites various high schools to UVA basketball games.
In 2005, Arbuckle saw a need for more financial support for the University of Virginia cheerleading teams. This is when a website was created www.virginiacheer.com as a tool to reach out to UVA alumni cheerleaders for their financial support to the current cheer teams through the Virginia Athletic Foundation.
In 2006, he was hired by the Greenbrier Valley YMCA to teach youth tumbling and cheerleading. His All-Star cheer team won first place at King’s Dominion in 2010. After the YMCA was purchased, he begin teaching tumbling and cheerleading at the Fairlea Activity Center.
The University of Virginia was founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819. In 2015, US News & World Report named UVA the No. 3 Public University behind UC Berkley and UCLA, and 20th largest college endowment. The Economist recently ranked UVA’s Darden School of Business No. 2 in the world in full-time international MBA programs. And most recently, MSN.com ranked UVA No.25 in “Total number of distinguished alumni.” Tina Fey, Katie Couric and Edgar Alan Poe are just a few. And in sports, UVA finished sixth in the Division lA All Sports Director’s Cup.
A graduate of Greenbrier East High School, Arbuckle feels it is time that some scholarship aid is given to a deserving Greenbrier East cheerleader to a college of their choice. This will become possible when the Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation presents the scholarship in 2016.
The fund will be administered by the Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation. GVCF was established in 1999 to ensure that the region remains an enriching environment where individuals and organizations have the resources needed to continue their vital work. It currently has $7 million in assets. Over the past 15 years, the foundation has distributed over $3.2 million to the community. This year, GVCF distributed $48,000 in scholarships. For more information about these scholarship funds, GVCF, or to learn how to establish a fund to benefit a cause you are passionate about, contact Courtney Smith, Executive Director, at 304-645-5620 or info@gvfoundation.org.
