The team was surprised with the honor during an award ceremony, and received it for their work with the cheerleading team at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington, D.C. During the season, the cheer team held a cheer clinic for the MSSD cheer team to teach them new skills and help prepare them for their nationals routine.
The Eagles utilized ASL and other communication skills to teach stunts, tumbling, and drills to the team. Coach CJ Murphy said it was a unique challenge teaching cheerleading skills to a deaf team because everything in cheerleading is timed by music or counts, so AU had to find creative solutions to keep the team's timing together for stunts or other choreography. The MSSD cheer team went on to take first place at their nationals competition in January, and their coach said that their team gained their confidence because of the AU cheer team.
