Class Acts

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Haylee Cantero

IS EMBRACING THE MAGIC OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

CLASS ACTS

As Central Middle School’s Student Council President, eighth-grader Haylee Cantero is finding herself extremely busy this year. But not so busy that it keeps her from digging into her best class and favorite book series.

“My favorite class is probably English,” said Cantero, “And I’ve read all the Harry Potter books. I took one of those Harry Potter quizzes, and it showed that I would be in Gryffindor.”

It’s not just that she enjoys English and the rest of her classes, though. Cantero is also a member of the National Honor Society at Central. She admits that she loves to study and hopes to continue her education after high school at the highest levels.

“I’m taking all advanced classes this fall, and I took honors classes last year,” said Cantero. “I’m hoping to go to

Harvard for college.”

One of the more significant challenges Cantero faces is cerebral palsy, something the family discovered when she was just one year old. But her mother, Katie Sexton, says that hasn’t come close to slowing her daughter down.

“She’s so active and involved in everything,” said Sexton. “Last year, she was vice president in seventh grade, and this year she’s the STUCO president. It’s just so great to see her pushing past what a lot of folks would see as limitations.”

Cantero says she enjoys being in a leadership role in student government and welcomes the responsibilities it brings.

“It’s great to help your school and the people you go to school with,” said Cantero. “I like that, and I enjoy making new friends and meeting new people. Right now, we’re working hard to help the seventh-graders with their upcoming elections.”

But back to Harry Potter and Cantero’s love of reading. Her mother says Cantero picked up her passion for books from her grandmother.

“My mother, her ‘Nana,’ is a high school librarian,” said Sexton. “I’m sure she inherited her love of reading from her because my mom would always read to her when we were in the hospital.”

Next year Cantero will get to take a trip to Universal Studios in Florida, where she hopes to spend some time at the theme park’s “Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” Cantero was awarded the trip through an organization that is essentially like Make-A-Wish for kids with disabilities.

“There’s nothing that has slowed her down,” said Sexton. “She’s such a smart girl and loves being with her friends, just like any eighth-grader here.”

“It doesn’t matter if you use a walker to get around,” said Cantero. “I like all the same things my friends do, and I can do all the things I need to do, the same as any of my friends.”

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Kyle Tyler is in MLB Heaven as an Angel

Back in 2018, Westmoore alum and former University of Oklahoma pitcher Kyle Tyler was one of more than 600-players selected in the major league baseball draft. The Los Angeles Angels chose Tyler in the 20th round, and it's a selection that doesn't exactly get you the keys to the penthouse. Still, Tyler's work ethic and determination have taken him on a steady path through the minor leagues to the moment he got the call every baseball player dreams of Welcome to The Show! We caught u p

with him on the road in Chicago to talk about his journey. Oh, gee, I don't remember a whole lot about it, besides the fact that I threw three innings, but it was it kind of came as a surprise because I had been up there for almost a week at that point and wasn't sure I was ever going to get into a game. I was just trying to be as prepared as I could if my name ever did get called in. And sure enough, it did. And I kind of panicked there for a second when I was warming up in the bullpen. But after throwing that first pitch, every -

thing kind of calmed down. And I settled right in and was only focused on the glove.

MM: Congratulations on your promotion to the LA Angels, Kyle. What was it like to get that call?

TYLER: I was speechless. For the longest time, it was kind of surreal, but I was very excited and just kind of overly anticipating this day to come finally. But, yeah, just extremely excited and very blessed to have it happen.

It didn't take you long to get your first chance on the mound. You looked pretty strong out there. And you ended up pitching three scoreless innings against some of the world's best baseball players. Did you have a chance to reflect on that accomplishment at all? I went back, and I watched my first outing. Even though it felt super-long and very drawn out, it was very a very quick outing. You go back and watch a video of it, and you're like, "Wow, I really did this." And after watching it a

What kinds of things have you done to ensure you're taking care of that internal part of yourself?

few times, I think it finally settled in that that, hey, I'm here, I can actually get these guys out.

I would guess the margin of error is tiny for you at that level of play. Yes, very, very much so. I mean, even going from AA to AAA ball, the margin of error wasn't very big there. It's as if you're pitching to a one-inch square in AA and AAA, and it's about the size of a quarter now. So that's pretty stressful.

What's your advice for those kids out there hoping to follow in your footsteps to the big league?

You can't expect it to happen if you're not willing to put in the long hours during the week. That includes lifting weights and going to batting practice or pitching practice or whatever it may be. Then you have to make sure you're getting enough sleep, stretching enough, and just taking the time to perfect your craft as a baseball player and recover and make yourself better as a person. That is probably one of the biggest things that it took me forever to understand.

And I don't think I really understood that until I got into college. Is that, yeah, you can spend hours upon hours practicing baseball and getting better at baseball. But if you're not taking care of yourself to help yourself mentally get better, then it's all going to be for nothing. I always just try to spend time with my family. They've been there since day one of Little League, and have I've been blessed that they've been able to travel all around the country with me, to watch me play, and to take me to tournaments and anything and everything else under the sun that revolves around baseball for me. I also try to keep in touch with my friends back home as much as I can and just kind of show them that, hey, I'm still the same person. I'm not any different just because I'm somewhere else.

I think a lot of people assume that being in the big leagues is kind of glamorous. What's it really like?

Well, there's not a whole lot of free time because we get done with a game at 10:30 or 11 o'clock, and it's midnight before you get back to your hotel or your apartment or wherever you may be staying. And usually, you don't calm down until 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning and. By then, you're when you wake up, get a full eight hours, it's 10 a.m., 11 a.m., and you've got to be back at the field at 1:30 or 2:00. There is a little bit of downtime spent in between there, but a lot of it is getting treatment from our fantastic training staff and trying to take care of our bodies.

As you look back over this journey, are there any truly special moments that stick with you?

I think something that definitely comes to mind is the day we adopted my little brother and the day that we finally got to bring him home. That was 14 years ago when we brought him home as a baby. And so I, I got to hold him the day he was born, as a giant, chubby 10-pound little baby. These days he always keeps me humble and grounded and tells me I suck, too. But that's brotherly love for you.