Ridgeline High鈥檚 Kennady Waldron lifting her team and peers
MILLVILLE, Utah — As a senior at Ridgeline High, Kennady Waldron can look back at her high school career with a clear perspective. For her, being a part of the Ridgeline Cheer and Stunt Squad and being a peer tutor have been some of her most remarkable highlights.
While Kennady had specific goals like improving stunt skills, one of her main aspirations was to serve her cheer family. 鈥淚nstead of focusing inward,鈥� she explained, 鈥淚 found the most joy and passion of cheer by empowering and supporting my teammates.鈥�
With those accomplishments in mind, it easily flowed into Kennady serving as a peer tutor. Her desire to help started when she realized that students with disabilities often go unnoticed or overlooked. 鈥淢y philosophy is that we should encourage everyone at school to enjoy every bright smile to have a more lively and inclusive atmosphere,鈥� said Kennady.
She also learned how to teach materials the students needed to know in a fun way! For one assignment, Kennady dressed up as Ariel during the class and taught the special needs students all about the different types of oceans worldwide.
By focusing and lifting others in the classroom, Kennady found she could support her team members more easily. She loves cheer because it is a team effort! 鈥淣obody can get left behind because we all are working together,鈥� she described, 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 to hit a hard stunt, stunting a pyramid, or even tumbling, we need to work together to be in sync. I love it because instead of a team, we鈥檙e a family.鈥�
Communicating with others has also been a skill that Kennady learned in cheer and as a peer tutor. She gained a greater understanding of how to correctly talk with students with disabilities. She can always connect with those friends through interest and a kind smile. As a team captain, she has learned to communicate with the other captains and that everyone needs to talk during practices and games.
Kennady couldn鈥檛 juggle her school work and duties as well as cheerleading (and several other sports) if she didn鈥檛 have such a great support network. 鈥淢y parents have always been there to cheer me on, and I so appreciate my coaches, Jenny Stolworthy and Stephanie Clark, who have helped me so much throughout my time being a cheerleader,鈥� she explains.
While competition is essential, her coaches always tell the team to focus on competing against themselves to be the best version possible. And her parents have always told her never to stop reaching for her full potential.
Through helping those in the special needs program and creating a cheer family, Kennady Waldron is already making great efforts to fulfill her potential.
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