Swampscott-born Patriots Cheerleader Nigro Happy to Spread Smiles in Children’s Hospital Visit
By Joshua Boyd
Swampscott Reporter
Even though the sidelines are quiet and you can hear a pin drop in Section 308 high up over the 30-yard line at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots Cheerleaders are keeping plenty busy.
Swampscott native and Marblehead resident Michelle Nigro’s association with New England’s football team didn’t end when the team lost to the Jets on Jan. 16. Instead, the Pats Cheerleader takes part in promotional activities throughout the off-season, including a recent trip to bring some smiles to patients at Children’s Hospital of Boston.
Nigro went with a fellow cheerleader and Pat Patriot, the team’s mascot, during the visit on March 4.
“It definitely reminds me to count my blessings and not take anything for granted,” said Nigro, a former Big Blue field hockey player who is now a junior at Emerson College, studying in the broadcast journalism department. She is a former host of the “Totally Patriots” show on WBZ-TV, which includes hosts ranging in age from 16-21.
“We were on a floor where some of these children don’t leave for months at a time, and that’s pretty shocking when you think about it,” said Nigro, who finished her rookie season with the Patriots Cheerleading squad in January. “Their mothers and grandfathers stick with them for months at a time. Some of their immune systems are really low, and you need to wear protective gowns and facemasks. It’s not only difficult on the child, but incredibly difficult on the family.”
The cheerleaders went around the hospital and visited with many of the patients, handing out autographed pictures and taking photos with patients.
Swampscott native Michelle Nigro, second from left, and fellow New England Patriots cheerleader Lauren Marchetti of Cranston, R.I., visit with their new friend, 4-year-old Colin was at Children’s Hospital in Boston
Nigro wants to be able to continue bringing smiles to these faces, and she is looking forward to Patriots Cheerleader auditions on Saturday, March 19.
“I’m absolutely going to go back and try out again,” she said. “I’m basically staying on top of my dancing and fitness, so I can be as ready as I was last year when I made the team. I’m hoping for a second year.”
Nigro looks back on her year as a Patriots Cheerleader as “a year full of firsts.”
“Between dancing on the field and going to the Dominican Republic for the calendar shoot, and the fact the Patriots did so well, it all added to the whole experience and made it so great,” she added.
She certainly wouldn’t mind joining the cheerleading crew on an all-expenses paid trip to Aruba for the 2012 calendar shoot.
Recently, Nigro took part in the Miss Boston Pageant, and finished as the runner-up.
“I won the swimsuit and interview awards, so I came close,” said Nigro, of the Feb. 20 event. “I saw it as a way to represent my platform, which is the Young Survival Coalition.
“That is an organization that is unique to helping women under 40 with breast cancer, and raising awareness that women under 40 do get breast cancer,” said Nigro. “I’ve done a lot of fundraising in the Boston area for them.”
(For more information on the Young Survival Coalition, see their website, www.youngsurvival.org).
Around the city, you may just spot Nigro either behind a video camera’s eyepiece, or in front of a camera with a microphone, filing a report for a class project.
“I’m applying for internships, and I have an interview with WCVB Channel 5,” said Nigro. “I’m really learning the other side of journalism — editing, camera work. You have to do story packages every two weeks for one of my classes.”
Stagefright is just not an issue with Nigro, who will be seeing dozens of prospective first-time Patriots Cheerleaders on March 19, in the same spot where she was last year. She passed along some words of advice.
“I would tell them to be confident in themselves, and just smile all the way through,” she said. “If you keep being confident and keep smiling, the judges will see through any little mess-ups.”
