![Archer's Facilities Manager, Enrique Montoya, stands in the Zeller Student Center after setting up chairs. He said he's stayed at Archer for 15 years because of his team. "It's been a fun [and] very professional environment," Montoya said. "It keeps me driven to keep coming every day without hesitating to get up in the morning."](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/montoya_edited_2-1200x800.jpg)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
On the weekend of Jan. 24 to 26, the Wakefield High School Varsity Cheerleading team competed for the very first time in the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) High School Nationals in Dallas, Texas. More importantly, for the first time in school history, they won. The 2024-2025 season has been extremely successful for the cheerleaders, with an undefeated record and countless outstanding performances.
At Nationals, the cheer team won the Intermediate Coed Varsity Crowd Leading for Small Groups category. To get to Nationals, the team had to first win the County Championships and the State Championships, which they were able to do through their hard work and dedication all season long. One of the senior members of the team, Kayla Anderson, highlights what it felt like to represent Wakefield on such a big stage.
“It was really fun to represent Wakefield at such a high level, but there was also a little pressure because we were the only school in North Carolina at Nationals so we knew we had to represent [the school] well,” Anderson said.
Despite this pressure, the team’s deep pride in their school was a key contributor to their success. Senior co-captain Sheniya Williams finds that the strong camaraderie of the team contributed to their accomplishments this year as well.
“You can’t win without having a bond with your teammates,” Williams said. “We were all able to come together through practices and team bonding [activities] and spend a lot of time together.”
This remarkable season marks the first of many triumphs for the cheer team. Another senior member of the team, Ashton Swartzel, joined this year for the very first time. He is grateful for the welcoming nature of the team and is proud of what his team was able to do not just for themselves, but for the school as a whole.
“We were tasked with writing history,” Swartzel said. “This was the first time we’ve ever won States and the first time we’ve ever gone to Nationals, so we had to make a name for ourselves and hopefully we will continue to do so.”
The Head Coach of the cheer team, Kelly Stanicek, couldn’t be prouder of her team for all the hard work they’ve put in this year. Going forward, Stanicek hopes that the cheerleaders can continue to push themselves toward greater and better achievements.
“The girls would say they want to do it all over again [next year],” Stanicek said. “We’re going to try to keep working hard and keep getting better.”
With such a high standard set from this outstanding year, the cheerleading squad has high hopes for their future and is determined to continue to leave a strong legacy on the school. This way the cheer team can continue to get the praise they deserve.
“I think [this win] gives more credit to the cheer team,” Swartzel said. “We’re not just something that cheers on other sports, we’re our own sport in itself. We deserve the credit and recognition for all the hard work we put in, and so I hope that this win will help bring more cheerleaders in the future and give us more funding.”
This story was originally published on The Howler on February 10, 2025.
