A Bonham Middle School eighth-grader is poised to become a varsity freshman twirler at Permian High School next fall.
Laniqua Clay, 14, has been a twirler at the middle school for two years. Principal Kamye Smith said this is just one of several highlights happening at the campus.
“We have lots of kids that are going to OCTECHS and OCA and New Tech next year, so just an upward trajectory, a lot of great growth and great things happening at Bonham,” Smith said.
Twirlers at Bonham perform at pep rallies, football games and during parades such as the Christmas parade downtown.
Clay is also a clarinetist in the advanced band and plans to continue that at Permian.
She’s only been twirling for two years.
“I saw the majorettes at pep rallies and it seemed like something fun to do. … It looked really cool, so I wanted to try it,” Clay said.
Trying out was nerve wracking, especially for the solo part.
She was nervous because there were other people there and “they’re good, so it’s challenging.”
When she found out she got on to the varsity squad at PHS, it was a wow moment.
“Especially to be a freshman and make it I was really, really surprised,” Clay said.
She expects being on the Permian squad will be similar to Bonham, but more challenging because she’ll be learning new tricks and more routines.
She enjoys twirling because it’s just fun.
If she has a performance coming up, she’ll practice after school at home every other day.
Twirling helps Clay get things off her mind.
“Like if I came in to twirling practice and I had something on my mind, I just leave it at the door and I don’t think about it for that whole practice,” Clay said.
Clay is in band; she was a dancer, but stopped when she got into majorettes; she’s also in AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination.
She’s excited but nervous to be going to Permian.
“It’s a big school, but I’m excited to meet new people and new friends,” Clay said.
She has really liked the band at Bonham because it has been very successful. Clay also will be in band at PHS.
She’ll be practicing all summer.
“All (of) June is competition season and then after that we’ll have summer band,” Clay said.
She added that she’s excited to have made the varsity twirling team this year and she hopes to make it again next year.
“I’m really excited to be a freshman on the team,” Clay said.
Smith said she thinks it’s fabulous that Clay made it to varsity as a freshman.
“One thing that we do talk to students about is setting goals and setting things for the future. She wanted to try out. She wanted to be on the twirling line at Permian and for her to reach her goal and surpass it and to be on the varsity line is excellent,” Smith said.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” Bonham Band Director Hector Izaguirre said.
He said there have been a lot of great majorettes in the program, but “none have jumped this far, so it’s really great.”
Izaguirre said Clay is a great student, as well.
“She not only strives in her academics, but does well for us in band class and obviously she’s done great in the twirling. She’s an overall great student and a great example and type of kid we have here at Bonham,” he added.
Clay said she feels like she’s a role model for other students.
At one point she went to school in San Angelo, but came back.
“We were glad to plug her right into the band … and she fit right in, right where she left off. I know she was glad to be back. We were most certainly glad to have her back. I think it was a different experience that she had in San Angelo,” Izaguirre said.
The advanced band, which Clay is part of, has earned 17 consecutive sweepstakes with all judges giving them a 1. The concert band, which is three years old, has received three years of sweepstakes, as well.
“We’re doing really well. We went to competition in San Antonio. We took three bands and all bands had outstanding performances. The advanced band was overall outstanding. We got a really tall trophy; taller than some of the kids here. We were really excited about that award,” Izaguirre said.
Clay said it was fun to be part of that band. She learned a lot from the experience and learned from her mistakes to become a better clarinet player.
She added that it has helped her in her classes, “especially algebra.”
