Former Penn Hills cheerleader honored for academic achievement

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, August 27, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Taylor Roach has a lot on her mind as she starts her freshman year at Pitt.

The 2023 Penn Hills graduate is getting acclimated to college life but had the chance to enjoy some of the fruits of her labor this summer. Roach, who was Penn Hills’ valedictorian last season and was also involved with cheerleading and volleyball in high school, received a Shyne Award.

The entire Penn Hills cheerleading team was invited to the awards ceremony to perform as well. The awards were presented by the Shyne Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create public platforms to recognize the positive achievements of youth between the ages of 13-24.

Roach enjoyed watching her former teammates perform.

“I enjoyed seeing cheerleaders because I am an alumni,” Roach said. “It kept the crowd active and intrigued in what was going to happen next. I enjoyed it a lot, seeing them perform and do all the things I haven’t seen before. They also had a dance company come out. I was getting emotional because it was inspirational.”

Roach’s accomplishments in high school left an impression on her cheerleading coach, Lisa Coffey. When she submitted the nomination for the Shyne Awards, Coffey pointed out that Roach excelled in time management.

“The extracurricular activities kept her busy for at least three nights during the school week and Sundays,” Coffey said. “Yet Taylor was committed to academic excellence, often eating meals and completing assignments in the back seat of her parents’ car.”

Roach originally got involved with cheerleading at age 5 or 6. Being on the cheer team felt more natural than some other sports she tried, like soccer.

“I love flipping,” Roach said. “My parents tried to get me into soccer, and I ended up getting into soccer and doing cartwheels across the field and not paying attention at all.”

During Roach’s senior year, she was a part of an energetic cheer program that was focused on trying different things. The team received a good reception on social media and was interested in trying to keep everyone involved with what they were doing.

“I feel like it was our energy that got people more involved,” Roach said. “It was a lot of simple cheers and a lot of hip hop. People liked the cheers we were doing. We started more and more of the stuff we were proud of.”

Roach is focused on academics first but plans to try out for the Pitt cheerleading team this fall. She would like to have the feeling of family again at her new school.

“I built time management and leadership through cheerleading,” Roach said. “It was nice having a community too. The other people on the team are like sisters. The coach was a big help to me during my senior year.”

Tags: Penn Hills