Hall of Fame Choose a Hall Of Fame Member: Ahern, John Beitz, Kelly (Bissel) Bondi, Theodore (Ted) A. Bourne, Chris Bunce, Roger Cerone, Dick Cutter, Sandy Doyle, David J. Fauth, Paul Fries, Dennis Gardner, Bernie Goodell, Bob Greene, Billy Hawver, Ellen Hooper, Bev Hosmer, Ann (Sprague) Huber, Bob Johnson, Bruce Johnson, James "Gene" Knight, Judith Ann Ladd, Dale Lombardi, Billy Martens, Dave Martin, Marty Martin, Linda Matthews, Bill Nagle, Bob O'Brien, Dennis Palumbo, Carl Purificato, Jack Sadler, Dennis Schifano, Justin Shambo, Peter Shelton, Judy Bishop Small, Joanne Smith, Elmer K. Smith, Kathy Sposato, Joe Steiner, Rick Stores, Ed Summit, Paula Tucci, Mike Verkey, Rod Viola, Nancy Wilkins, Sally Woods, Theodore (Ted) R. Zaccardo, Joe Zumbo, Jim Joanne Small Class Induction 2023 Sport(s) Executive Joanne Small Section V Cheerleading Coordinator Joanne Small was born in Grand Island. She was one of eight children; 4 boys and 4 girls. It was a big family and they did many things together. One of the things they did was move alot as her father was a builder and they would move into an unfinished house and then would move out once it was sold. In the summer of 1971 just before her freshman year in high school Joanne‘s family moved to Dalton, New York. She loved it but also missed Grand Island. She enjoyed many things around Dalton including the Nunda Fun Days and participating in the Rancheros Drum and Bugle Corps color guard one summer. Classes in Grand Island were around 350 students where in Keshequa, where she attended, there were less than 100 students per class. At Grand Island they had dress code that was nonexistent in Keshequa. She played intramural sports at Keshequa as there were no sports for girls at the time. She was also a cheerleader for two years before graduating in 1975. Joanne attended Alfred State College for a year. There she was a basketball cheerleader. She then started in a secretarial program. Joanne married Dennis Small on May 14, 1977. The Smalls have three children, Leslie, Kevin, and Jason. Dennis continued to teach Health and drivers Ed and coach junior varsity basketball at Keshequa. At the time there was no one to coach the cheerleaders, so Joanne, now a “stay at home mom” became the cheerleading coach in 1978. Back then the cheerleading coaches used to rate each other when they performed on the court and this often created a difficult situation, where one coach had to judge the other, and someone had to be a winner and the other the loser. The competition was based on execution of the cheers rather than athleticism. Teams were ranked by the respective leagues, and only the top ranked teams advance the sectionals. At sectionals teams did a “hello cheer”, a “sideline cheer” and a “floor cheer”. In 1986 Joanne became a member of the Section V cheerleading committee. During this time Cheerleading was still not considered a sport in New York State. As a matter fact it was considered a “support” activity. This needed to change. With the full support of the Section V leadership at the time: Ted Woods, Ted Bondi and Bruce Johnson they began to advocate for equality. Basically JoAnne and others were pushing for cheerleading to be recognized as a sport, showcasing athletic abilities. JoAnne became part of the Ronald McDonald head table back in 1993 and got more recognition for cheerleading. The Cheerleaders raised a lot of money and actually back in the 1993-94 school year sectionals were held and the winners received an actual block. In 2007 the first cheerleading all star teams were selected; JoAnne joined the New York State public high school athletic association committee for cheerleading in 2012 with the intention of making cheerleading a sport. Two years later, in 2014 cheerleading was in fact, designated a sport in New York State. JoAnne retired as the Section V Cheerleading coordinator in 2022. JoAnne coached high school cheerleading for 30 years, 21 in Keshequa and 9 in Geneseo. During that time her teams won 11 sectional championships.