Warrior Pride Kicks Off School Year with Social
Pride leaders, seniors Kashish Balaggan, Srija Reddy, Jewels Uherek, and Melissa Wijono, pose together after the water balloon fight. Photo courtesy of Jewels Uherek
On Thursday, Aug. 17, Warrior Pride convened for ice cream and a meeting where parents and members enjoyed the sweet treat while the new leadership was introduced. Afterwards, members were taken outside to meet each other before the start of a new school year.
The meeting started with the new director of Warrior Pride, Ms. Jessica Steedley, introducing herself. Before joining Westwood, Ms. Steedley had been a director of Cedar Park’s Emeralds, the JV dance team, and the assistant director of the Celebrities, the Varsity dance team.
“I grew up in Round Rock ISD and Westwood High School was a place that I knew, and I wanted to be in this community,” Ms. Steedley said. “Right when the position opened up, I just applied immediately. I just know that these are some of the greatest kids. I’m just very blessed to be here and work here.”
The new Pride leaders, seniors Kashish Balaggan, Srija Reddy, Jewels Uherek, and Melissa Wijono, also introduced themselves during the meeting. The fact that this year marks the last year they would be part of the team encouraged the leaders to make an impact on the team before they graduate.
“I’ve had such an impact from my last two pride leaders,” Uherek said, “because they would be the people I would run to and like talk to when I had a bad day, and then just watching them and talking to them got me really excited to be a pride leader. I’m one of those people that love to help in anyway possible. I feel like I can make an impact on people, hopefully.”
The team transitioned outside and proceeded to a name game and a water balloon fight after the meeting concluded. To pump up the members for the water balloon fight, the Pride leaders announced a small competition for who could be the most wet and most dry at the end. Despite the short time the members had known each other, the water balloon fight brought everyone closer together.
“It was really fun to meet the new members,” Madeline Finch ‘20 said, “because there’s a lot of addition, and it’s like the first time I can actually talk to them. It was nice to see my friends from last year as well.”
The meeting left Warrior Pride members excited for the school year. Their first performance will occur on Sept. 21.
Hi! This will be my third year on Press, and I'll be helping design the yearbook! Outside of Press, I'm a Warrior Pride dancer and an avid drawer. I'm...
