{"id":1678,"date":"2026-03-19T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T08:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=1678"},"modified":"2026-03-19T14:48:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:48:42","slug":"cheer-with-marco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2026\/03\/19\/cheer-with-marco\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Cheer with Marco: Sharing Marshall Pride with the Future Herd"},"content":{"rendered":"
For one Marshall alumna, Herd pride isn\u2019t just a college memory. It\u2019s something she hopes to pass down to the next generation.<\/p>\n
\"Author
Michelle Callanta and her granddaughter read her book, Let’s Cheer with Marco to a classroom of elementary students<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michelle Callanta, author of the children\u2019s book “Let’s Cheer with Marco,” has always felt a deep connection to Marshall University.<\/p>\n

Growing up just two blocks from campus in Huntington, Marshall always felt like home to Callanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to say I grew up in the shadows of the Twin Towers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With the university as a core part of her childhood, attending Marshall was never a question\u2014it was where she belonged.<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce you\u2019re a son or daughter of Marshall, you\u2019re always a son or daughter of Marshall.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Michelle Callanta<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

Michelle graduated in 1999 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism and mass communications and has led a successful career in integrated marketing and media strategy.<\/p>\n

She says her time as a student shaped her career, friendships and the community that has stayed with her for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeeting the friends that I\u2019ve had forever and being part of that community are the things you remember,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce you\u2019re a son or daughter of Marshall, you\u2019re always a son or daughter of Marshall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifteen years ago, she started writing this book as a way to give a piece of Marshall to her friends and family who were welcoming children into the world. They shared a strong Marshall connection, and she wanted to create a gift to celebrate that bond.<\/p>\n

\"Marco
Michelle Callanta helped Marco celebrate his birthday by visiting local elementary schools together and sharing her book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou could find Marco plushies or little cheerleader outfits,\u201d she said. \u201cBut there wasn\u2019t a children\u2019s book.\u201d<\/p>\n

After checking online and seeing no similar books, she committed to the project. Her goal was to create a story to excite young readers about Marshall traditions, especially those on game days.<\/p>\n

During the pandemic, she decided to finish the book, and it was published in 2025.<\/p>\n

Callanta explained that writing the manuscript didn\u2019t take long, but turning the vision into a finished book required patience. Much of her time was spent working through the illustration process to ensure the artwork captured the story’s spirit.<\/p>\n

Once complete, the book became more than a gift for friends and family\u2014it\u2019s Callanta\u2019s way of giving back to the university that shaped her life.<\/p>\n

\n\tMy experience at Marshall changed the trajectory of my life.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Michelle Callanta<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

She had the opportunity to read the book to children in Cabell County during a visit coinciding with Marco\u2019s 61st birthday celebration and Read Across America Week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love seeing the kids get excited about the book,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about helping the next generation feel pride in a school that\u2019s right in their backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the children she met had never attended a Marshall game or met Marco, which reinforced her mission to write the book.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want alumni to share that pride with this next generation,\u201d Callanta said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

While the book celebrates Marshall traditions, its message goes beyond game day excitement. For the author, the book is a way to inspire the future of the children who read it.<\/p>\n

Marshall shaped her future, and she hopes the book inspires children to imagine that same path.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience at Marshall changed the trajectory of my life,\u201d she said. \u201cIf one child hears the story and starts thinking about college, or realizes it\u2019s possible for them, then it\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s considering another book, with ideas including stories about Marshall basketball and other university traditions.<\/p>\n

For now, though, she\u2019s enjoying the experience of sharing her story and her Marshall pride with the next generation.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For one Marshall alumna, Herd pride isn\u2019t just a college memory. It\u2019s something she hopes to pass down to the next generation. Michelle Callanta, author of the children\u2019s book “Let’s Cheer with Marco,” has always felt a deep connection to Marshall University. Growing up just two blocks from campus in Huntington, Marshall always felt like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1678"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1688,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678\/revisions\/1688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}