Friday night will be a special one for many as it’s Senior Night for the Class of 2020’s JROTC, band, Raiderettes, color guard, cheerleaders and football. The Rider Chronicle is having a series of Q/As with the leaders of each organization this week. 

Raiderettes captain Sarah Johnston sat down with The Rider Chronicle to discuss her final year of high school and her plans for after graduation. 

Q: How long have you been a Raiderette and why have you stayed this long?

A: Four years. I stayed on Raiderettes because I’ve always danced as a little girl, and I absolutely love to dance. I think being on a team. Always the girls make it so much better and knowing that hard work and discipline comes with it so I think I like it because it’s a challenge.  

Q: What makes being a Raiderette special for you?

A: Being a Raiderette to me means that you’re held at a higher standard, so you know that everyone’s watching you. Yet it’s always nice knowing that all the hard you put in and everything, you always get the recognition for it, but also like just being something involved that’s so watched closely, it’s kind of cool.

Q: What do you want to accomplish your senior year? 

A: Just having the girls lead knowing that they came off of a good family and good foundation of dance and bounding and a lot of stuff. Also just winning Grand Champions again, that was a cool thing we did last year.

Q: What’s your favorite memory of the Raiderettes?

A: I would say either going to Disney last year because that was a cool experience, and it was my first time going. It was really fun hanging out with the girls for the week, or probably winning Grand Champions because we all really felt like all the hard work we put into everything we really just went for it and we felt like a team.  

Q: What have you learned about being a Raiderette? 

A: I learned hard work, dedication, just supporting other girls, how to be more confident in myself and how to not be scared to do anything. You know when you’re performing in front of thousands of people every Friday, you can’t be scared. Just really becoming who I am as a person.  

Q: How have you changed since your freshman year and why? 

A: I would say definitely maturity-wise because during my freshman year I was just on the team. Then my sophomore and junior year I was a lieutenant and I really had to step it up, and I had not only to just think about myself, but I had to think about the other teammates. Mostly this year as captain I’m always putting my team first instead of me so I feel like definitely maturity-wise I’ve grown up a lot since then.    

Q: What do you want to do after high school? Why?

A: I want to go to Kilgore Junior College, it’s in Kilgore Texas, and they have the Kilgore Rangerettes, which is a dance team. It’s actually the original drill team, and it’s probably one of the hardest to get on because usually 90 girls try out every year but only 30 make it. They’re a really big deal and they travel all over the world to perform and everything, so probably being a Kilgore Rangertte.       

Q:  What will you miss once you leave?

A: Definitely the girls and the bond of the team. You don’t get that kind of sisterhood with anything else, and I’m gonna miss going to practice every day at 7 a.m. and starting off the day with the people I love the most.  

Q: Last message to your team. What do you want them to know? 

A: I’d probably want them to know to really just love yourself and encourage one another because it’s something that I feel like most girls need today and really girls support girls. It’s really crucial so just always keep a positive mind and always be positive about yourself and don’t ever put yourself down no matter what.