Chapter 48: Addi Steele

Addi Steele has been a part of Pleasant Valley since the beginning. She was born in Mesa, Arizona and moved to Iowa when she was only 4. When kindergarten came around, she found herself in the halls of Pleasant View Elementary. Steele went there until 4th grade but since her dad had to follow his job, he moved to Minnesota and so did she. A year passed until Steele made her return to Pleasant Valley and she has stayed since.

There has been a part of Steele’s life that she believes has made her stronger. She said, “I think that being bullied in the past has really impacted my life, it has made me a hard worker and taught me to put in the effort and show the haters wrong.” The lesson of not letting the hurtful words of others hold you back has been really important to her these past couple years.

Throughout high school, cheerleading has become a bigger part of her story. The first time she was a cheerleader was in junior high. She tried it because, “To be honest, I think it’s since my mom was one a long time ago.” Steele expressed, “And I tried it and really enjoyed it.”

Her freshman year she made the JV football cheer squad. Being apart of that team allowed her to practice and improve for the next season where in fact, she wanted to make varsity. During the whole football season, Steele worked hard and pushed herself to the varsity standards. When basketball season came around, she had on a varsity cheer uniform and was standing under the basket, cheering on the Spartans. Her genuine, friendly personality makes it easy for her to cheer for the school and her peers.  

This year as a sophomore, she made the varsity football cheer squad. Oct. 19 was the last home game for Pleasant Valley. That means the football cheer season is coming to an end and tryouts for basketball season will arrive soon enough. Of course, Steele will be trying out for the next cheer season with hopes of new friends trying out the sport she loves.