Every year, since she was a freshman, Taylor Newton has been a part of the Armijo High School cheerleading squad and she has continued to be bright, talented and cheerful

Newton started cheering at age seven but she stopped briefly when she was nine. Cheering at Armijo has brought back the spark that started long ago. Newton chose to go into cheerleading because she wanted to try it at the high school level and she wanted to meet new people, and that she did. What she likes most about cheer is the sisterhood and likes making great friends. Her advice for someone contemplating getting involved in cheerleading is to just do it. “It’s a lot of fun and a good way to get out of your shell and make new friends,” she said.

Her most memorable cheer experience was last year, during her junior year. At the last basketball game against Rodriguez High School, the squad was celebrating their last performance together and made their last show a lot of fun. “Cheer is great!” she said.

Outside of school and cheer, one of Newton’s passions is teaching gymnastics. Her hobbies include cheering, sleeping and eating and she plans to continue doing all three of those in college. Her dream school is Prairie View A&M in Texas.

Her role models are Beyoncé, cheerleader Gabi Fuller and her mother, because she’s really supportive. She has a sister, Kayla, who is 18 and a brother named Linn, although her family calls him Bear. He is six.

If she could change one thing about Armijo, Newton said that she would eliminate the fights and violence “because it’s not safe on school grounds”.