Since the age of 4, Kaitlyn Reid has been working on her cheerleading skills. At the end of April, she competed at the Allstar World Championship, a cheer competition in Orlando, Fla.
All that hard work in developing her cheer skills has also paid off for Reid, a senior at Derby High School, with a spot on the Friends University cheer team next fall.
Reid first began gymnastics at the age of 3. She loved the tumbling portion the most and began pursuing cheer at Cheer Fusion in Wichita (now ICT Cheer Legacy).
Reid, who gives lessons at her current gym (Divinity Athletics), likes to share her passion for her sport and serve as a mentor for younger cheerleaders.
“I am currently in my 14th year of teaching, and I know that finding a student like Kaitlyn is very rare. She is driven, caring and a pleasure to be around,” said Megan MacKay, Reality 101 teacher at Derby High School.
“[Kaitlyn] ended up applying to be a peer mentor for my Reality 101 class for her sophomore year. As a peer mentor, she is phenomenal,” MacKay said. “She always takes the initiative to support the freshmen in class and rarely has to be asked. Additionally, her positive attitude and sense of humor make her a wonderful addition to my classroom everyday.”
Giving back to the community has been another passion for Reid. As a member of National Junior Honor Society at Derby North Middle School, Reid built, placed and filled a blessing box. The box contained food and toiletries that were available for anyone to access from its location by Tribe and True Hair Salon. Reid worked with other students to collect donations to keep the box filled until it had to be removed due to vandalism. She is currently looking for a new location for the blessing box.
Reid also has a creative side and likes to make car fresheners and bracelets that she sells through her mom’s company, Firefly Gifts by Jaime.
Reid, the daughter of Jaime and Joshua Burget, plans to major in physical education and minor in coaching at Friends University. Because she has already earned college credit, she will enter college as a sophomore and wants to earn her master’s degree in four years.
“I’m excited and nervous to graduate,” Reid said. “Not knowing what the future holds is scary but after 13 years of school, I’m ready to move on.”
