Ava Branham is a senior at Parkersburg South High School where she is a voting member in student council, is a member of the chamber ensemble and mixed chorus in choir and a member of the color guard in the school’s marching band. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg South High School senior Ava Branham lives life as a carefully choreographed routine of music, motion and ambition — one that somehow manages to fit student council meetings, choir rehearsals, color guard performances, all-star cheer practices, piano recitals and college dreams all into a 24-hour day.

How does she do it? Being present in everything she is doing.

“Live in the moment,” Branham said. “You kind of just stay in the moment, every second, even at practices or in school … you got to kind of take every second to work on schoolwork or ask questions or just have fun. Always have fun.”

She has been involved in student council all four years of her high school career and is a senior voting member, a role she sees as meaningful.

“It’s that next step into the council,” Branham said. “It’s not just coming to meetings and just listening. We’re expected to attend every meeting … (with this) you get to raise your hand in discussions, and if there’s something to vote on, like yes or no, you get to vote. There are only five per grade, but I really do enjoy it.”

Ava Branham is a senior at Parkersburg South High School where she is involved in student council, is a member of the chamber ensemble in choir and the color guard. (Photo Provided)

Branham is also part of the chamber choir at Parkersburg South and said it has grown from a fun childhood activity into a serious, competitive pursuit, but one that still keeps joy at its center.

“I think I joined in elementary school because I liked the teacher,” Branham said.

She said the chamber choir is just one of the three competitive choirs at Parkersburg South — chamber, madrigals and mixed chorus — and that she would be involved with the others if she had more time.

“Mads (Madrigals) practices during my cheer practice,” Branham said. “I would love to be in Mads. I think they’re an amazing group.”

She said each group enters competitions and that last year the chamber choir traveled to Chicago where she said it had a standout performance.

Ava Branham poses for a picture before the Parkersburg South High School Homecoming this year. Branham is a senior who is involved in student council, is a member of the chamber ensemble in choir and part of the color guard. (Photo Provided)

“We won, I think, every category we could, which was a lot,” Branham said.

This year, the choir is headed to Williamsburg, Va., for another major competition at the end of April, a trip Branham says she is “very excited” about.

From early days of just “liking the teacher” to traveling the country and learning challenging repertoire, she sees those experiences as “crazy, cool” opportunities that have shaped her senior year in music.

“It’s not my biggest thing that I do, but I do really enjoy it,” she said.

Branham is also a member of the marching band color guard, which she joined as a junior. In just two seasons, that decision turned into something special, she said.

Ava Branham performs a routine with the Ohio Valley All-Star cheerleaders. Branham has been a member of the group for eight years and is on two of its competition teams. (Photo Provided)

“We just finished our season,” Branham said. “We had a record-breaking season. We won all six of our competitions with the grand champion.”

Outside of school, Branham’s life is defined by the intense, fast-paced world of all-star cheerleading. She cheers for the Ohio Valley All-Stars, where she said she’s spent most of her adolescence.

“I love cheer. This is my eighth season at OVA. I joined cheer, and I really loved it,” she said, explaining she found her way there after trying other activities like dance and softball that “just weren’t my thing.”

She said what keeps her committed is the energy and precision the sport demands. She said cheer is a team sport where athletes have to learn what each person needs to get through a demanding two-and-a-half minutes of tumbling and lifting.

“Our routines are two minutes and 30 seconds, and it sounds like a good amount of time, but in the grand scheme of things, there’s so much jam packed into that two minutes and 30 seconds,” Branham said. “There’s tumbling … specific requirements … everything is so detailed. And I just, I love every bit of it.”

Ava Branham, far left, helps at water station 12 during The Parkersburg News and Sentinel 2025 Half Marathon with her Ohio Valley All-Star cheer team. Branham said the group, named Cheerleeders for Charity, finds ways to give back to the community.

This season, she’s on two squads, senior Level 3 Electric and senior Level 4 Lady Steel, with Level 4 bringing tougher tumbling and stunts. She said training is rigorous with both teams practicing two days a week, with alternating two-hour blocks on Mondays and Wednesdays, plus a separate hour-long tumbling class.

“We work those two hours to either work on your skills that you have in your routine, or to progress up to the next level,” she said.

She said the competition season started in November, pausing during the busy December period, and then will ramp back up in January with around five or six competitions.

She said early results have only fueled her determination for this year.

“We started in November. Both of my teams got second, and that’s because we didn’t hit our routine. If we would have, I think we would have won,” Branham said. “So I think we need to just work on perfecting and getting those reps in… continuing to strengthen our technique and working together.”

Ava Branham, center, poses for a photo at Willis Tower during a choir competition in Chicago. Also pictured are Daniel Raper, Hannah Raper, Audrey Smith and Ali Evans. (Photo Provided)

She said all of these competitions are geared toward earning a bid to an end-of-season championship at Walt Disney World’s ESPN complex.

“I’m pretty confident,” she said about their chances of getting a bid. “We have our routines, we’re working toward getting our upgrades and we’re definitely in the polishing stage. Which is great. You aren’t always where you want to be, but this year, I think we’re very conditioned, we’re doing a lot of workouts just to build our endurance and our strength.”

For Branham, cheer is more than a pastime; it’s a carefully honed craft built on detail, teamwork and the thrill of nailing a routine exactly right. Even when she’s not in the gym, she is still studying the sport. She said she is always watching videos of new techniques and her coach regularly sends videos of teams performing similar skills, as well as elite programs from cheer hotbeds like California, Texas and Florida.

“They are just such an insane group, and it’s so cool to watch,” she said of the top-level, Level 6 and 7 programs. “You really do pick things up and my coach has learned a lot of ways to help us and adapt the way we do things.”

The cheer group also helps in the community with its Cheerleaders for Charity initiative.

“We do many types of community service projects such as participating in a water station at The Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half marathon, participating with Ataraxis Hair Salon in a hair tinsel fundraiser for the local Pink Mammogram Fund, donating to House to Home and Precious Angels, and making Valentine’s Day cards for Rockland Ridge Nursing Home,” Branham said. “Participating in these community service projects with my group means a lot to me. It’s a chance for us to give back to our community, make a positive impact and work together toward a common goal. It also is a really rewarding experience for me to give back.”

Branham is looking to continue those rewarding experiences beyond graduation and has a clear first step in mind: West Virginia University.

“My plan right now is WVU,” Branham said. “I actually submitted my application last night.”

She said WVU is the only school she plans to apply to, making Morgantown her likely destination. She said her family played a big role in her decision to attend WVU. Her older brother currently attends WVU, and both of her parents are alumni, turning it into a tradition.

Academically, she said she intends to major in exercise physiology, seeing it as a pathway to even higher education like medical school. While she doesn’t yet have a specific medical career chosen, her passion for science and math is driving that direction.

“I really like science… I’ve taken a lot of science classes here at South,” she said, adding that she enjoys the math side of chemistry in particular.

Through it all, that guiding idea of “live in the moment” keeps Branham grounded, whether she’s on the field, on the mat, or looking ahead to Morgantown and a future in medicine.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

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Ava Branham, far right, passes the spirit stick during the Parkersburg South High School Homecoming Week. (Photo Provided)

Ava Branham, third from the right, poses for a picture before this year’s prom at Parkersburg South High School. Also pictured are Ansley Ubbens, Landon Henthorn, Ali Evans, Alivia Fritts, Lucas Karr and Lauren Powers. (Photo Provided)

Ava Branham, as a member of the color guard, performs with the Parkersburg South High School marching band field show this past season. The group finished an historic year when it went undefeated in the 2025 season and earned grand champion honors at six West Virginia High School marching band competitions. (Photo Provided)

Ava Branham, far right, poses with her brothers, Dylan, Gavin and Connod Branham during Easter Sunday this year. (Photo Provided)

Ava Branham performs at a spring piano recital at the First Lutheran Church early this year. Branham said she has taken lessons from Stephanie Robinson since elementary school. (Photo Provided)

Ava Branham, center, poses with her parents, Erin and David Branham, during Parkersburg South High School’s Senior night. Branham said she plans to uphold the family tradition and attend West Virginia University after graduation where she will major in exercise physiology. (Photo Provided)