Senior Night
Tonight is the last home football game of the year, and seniors from football, cheer, drill team, drill team escorts, band, athletic trainers, Student Response Team, Video Production Crew, STUCO and Key Club will be recognized. It is the last night these students will perform their roles at Dragon Stadium, and it is a time of reflection and celebration. Here is a closer look at just a few of the students who are leaders at NHS both on and off the field.
Tonight is the last home football game of the year, and seniors from football, cheer, drill team, drill team escorts, band, athletic trainers, Student Response Team, Video Production Crew, STUCOKey Club will be recognized. It is the last night these students will perform their roles at Dragon Stadium, and it is a time of reflection and celebration. Here is a closer look at just a few of the students who are leaders at NHS both on and off the field.
Riley Birdwell
Riley Birdwell is a football captain for the NHS Dragons varsity football team.
“I’m a four-year starter,” he said. “I played one year at Cushing HS and three at NHS.”
Riley said he enjoys going out every Friday and playing a game he loves with all his friends.
The leadership he provides to the other football players comes in the form of motivation and excitement.
What he has enjoyed most about high school football is growing together as a team.
“My favorite memory is going to the play-offs last year,” he said. “I’ll miss Friday nights filled with football.”
Riley hopes to go to college somewhere to play football.
Jake Smith
Jake Smith is the quarterback for the NHS varsity football team.
“I’ve have played football since I was 6 years old,” he said. “I enjoy the team aspect of the game.”
Jake said he tries to lead by example.
“I have enjoyed meeting new people and having fun with my team on the football field. My favorite memories are being around my teammates. I will miss playing for the NHS Dragons. I hope to play in college.”
Sydney Moses
Sydney Moses is varsity cheer co-captain. She has been cheering for 10 years, and as co-captain she loves helping others improve their skills.
“Seeing my team thrive gives me joy,” she said. “I try to instill excitement and school spirit into my team making them motivated for everything we do.”
Sydney said she has enjoyed being there for all the highs and lows and seeing the team grow a little more after every loss and every win.
“One of my favorite memories was cheering for our football boys when we were down by 6,” she said. “We then proceeded to get the crowd rowdy enough for them to score a touchdown and won the game.”
Next, Sydney hopes to cheer for SFA.
“Looking back, these past four years have flown extremely fast,” she said. “Over these years I’ve grown as a person. I’m grateful for Nacogdoches High School, as this school and community helped me become the best version of myself that I could be.”
Katelyn Richardson is varsity cheer co-captain. She has been cheering since second grade.
“I am naturally a leader, so just being able to lead the girls to success is all I can ask for,” she said. “I try to keep the girls motivated to do their best every day and grow as a cheer family.”
Katelyn said she has enjoyed making memories and building relationships. One of her favorite memories was cheering in the freezing rain her junior and senior year.
“I’ll miss Friday night games,” she said. “Next year I hope to attend Texas Tech University.”
Hannah Lambright is major for the Dragonettes Drill Team. This is her third year of dance, and what she enjoys most about her position is leading the team and making relationships.
“As a leader, my goal is to be kind, no matter what,” she said.
What she has enjoyed most about her time at NHS and Friday night games is spending time with friends and family.
Her favorite memories were practicing with the drill team.
Colton Greer is the drum major for the Golden Dragon Band. He has been in band playing the trumpet for eight years.
"I practiced for drum major try outs for about four months with the help of my friend who was already drum major at another school," he said. "I went to drum major camp after my sophomore year to prepare for me being drum major my junior year."
Colton said it is very rewarding, being able to be in such a leadership position in such an amazing and praiseworthy organization.
"I love being able to be there to help and teach people to get us to the point we need to be at," he said.
Colton said he loves being someone people feel they can talk to.
"Forming these connections means so much to me," he said. "I always try to be as encouraging, optimistic and happy as I can throughout everything that we do. This is especially important after a practice or performance that doesn't go like we want it to - just keeping spirits up."
Colton said he loves seeing all of the band's hard work pay off every week.
"Even when we have bad practices, the band never fails to amaze during a performance," he said. "Above all, though, I love spending time with all of my friends and making connections with as many people as I can."
Colton emphasized how much love and support he has felt in band.
"There is something about it that you can't find anywhere else," he said. "I'm going to miss my friends and my uniform crew. They are truly my closest group of friends. I couldn't have done this year without them, and I am thankful for them."
Colton said attending Texas A&M is what comes next for him, where he will be majoring in management focusing on pre-law. After that, he hopes to attend law school.
Kealy Hathaway is head twirler for the Golden Dragon Band. She has been in band since sixth grade and has been twirling since first grade. As head twirler, she enjoys being able to teach others about something she enjoys.
“I try to motivate the other twirlers to do their best and encourage them to be spirited and supportive of other organizations,” she said. “I love the football games in general, but I especially enjoy how encouraging band, cheer, twirling and drill team are to one another.”
After graduating in May, Kealy said she’ll miss spending time with her friends and making memories with them, but she hopes to make even more memories when she goes to college.
Kayla Escarcega is the president for Student Council. She has been involved with STUCO for four years. This is her first year to be president.
“I like helping others, and growing,” she said. “I want to help people get more involved in our community, and help them grow so that they can become leaders themselves.”
She said what she has enjoyed most about NHS is getting to know new people. She said exchanging spirit gifts with the other team are some of her favorite memories.
“What I’ll miss is being involved,” she said. “I’m going to college to major in business.”
Seniors being recognized tonight include:
Football: Ace Denby, who passed away last year. His teammates wanted to remember and honor him. Riley Birdwell, Brendan Bolton, Seth Burch, D’Quillan Burleigh, Drayton Brown, Charlie Curl, Tay Deckard, Kendall Douglass, Nazavien Floyd, Michael Jones, Nash Jones, Luke Laird, John Romero, Esteban Santoyo, Jake Smith, Chris Tieman, Paul Vidrine Jr., Rodrick Whaley, Tommie Williams.
Trainers: Aylin Arias, Alexandra Bailey, Jocelyn Castellanos, Brianna Green, Andrea Rivera, Salma Zamora.
Cheerleaders and Managers: Sydney Moses, Katelyn Richardson, Carolina Sifuentes, Khadeja Williams.
Dragonettes and Managers: Willow Adkins, Joana Castelan, Meagan Coffee, Lorna Curtis, Sarah Nicole Dilks, Kate Esparza, Jules Fields, Arena Flores, Monica Hernandez, Shakashia Houston, Hannah Lambright, Aunesti Osby, Hope Rodriguez, Kadejah Taylor, Skyler Cowser and Chaney Mullican.
Drill Team Senior Escorts: Adam Ballenger, Cameron Daniels, Aiden Donihoo, Phil Franke, Allen Guadardo, Cooper Hinson, Aidan Montes, Gracen Partin, Eduardo Sifuentes, Carson Still, Vincent Thai and Blake Wilson.
Student Council Seniors: Mattie Chauvin, Kayla Escarcega, Tiffany Emborgo, Julissa Flores, Jennifer Lee, Raquel Pasillas and Evelynn Precella.
Key Club Seniors: Gruadalupe Garcia, Anthony Romero, Lynette Salto, Jasmine Vazquez and Calvin Macias.
Video Production Crew: Miguel Santoyo-Padilla and Nicolas Upshaw.
Student Response Team: Christopher Benitez, Josh Lopez, Ashley Martin, Kimberly Reyes and Kevin Venegas.
Band: Aleiza Belista, William Branton, Isaac Brown, Joana Castelan, Christian Castro, Mattie Chauvin, Austin Dang, Tiffany Emborgo, Kate Esparza, Jasmine Flores, DJ Franklin, Cesar Garcia, Colton Greer, Kealy Hathaway, Hannah Herndon, Cord Hillis, Scottie Hutchens, Ayani Jackson, Sam Jacobs, William Kuder, Dabin Lee, Erick Leon, Jason Martinez, Kristine Maulion, Sabrina Munoz, Jennifer Ramirez, Julissa Sanchez, Jordan Scott, Haley Shutter, Erin Taravella, Vincent Thai, Caleb Thompson, Emilia Torres, Dulce Tovar, Jose Vega, Karla Vega and Jeannae Washington.
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