Sneed sisters are active at Hermleigh High School

Whether it’s academics or sports, the Sneed sisters, Aaliyah and Brishaya, are always active at Hermleigh High School — and they wouldn’t want it any other way.
The daughters of Rodney and Beatrice Thompson make “mostly As and a few Bs,” according to Brishaya Sneed.
Aaliyah Sneed, a junior, competes in University Interscholastic League poetry reading while her sister, a sophomore, is a candidate for Hermleigh’s chapter of the National Honor Society.
The sisters are also active in cheerleading, basketball, softball, tennis and powerlifting. Aaliyah Sneed will also run track. They are both members of the one-act play crew — Aaliyah Sneed on lights and Brishaya Sneed is the stage manager.
The activities make for a long day, Aaliyah Sneed said.
“The more activities we take part in, the better our chances to achieve success,” Aaliyah Sneed said.
Their day usually begins at 5 a.m. and by 6:15 a.m. they are in the high school weight room. After breakfast, the academic day begins.
Their afterschool schedule begins with basketball practice at 3:45 p.m. followed by one-act play rehearsals at 6 p.m. Following a meal and completing homemork, the sisters head to bed and will do it all over again.
Gameday changes their routine. The two joined their basketball teammates for the first game and after a quick change, they could be seen cheering on the boys’s team.
They said they no longer change into their cheerleading uniforms after their game.
“Last year we would change into our cheerleading outfits and perform with the rest of the squad,” Brishaya Sneed said. “We don’t do that this year. But if the boys team advances we will cheer for them with the other cheerleaders.”
This year is Aaliyah Sneed’s second as a powerlifter and the first for her younger sister.
“I’m nervous at the beginning of a meet,” Aaliyah Sneed said. “But then I’m ready to achieve. I want to give (powerlifting) my all.”
Brishaya Sneed admitted to being nervous at her first meet. “I felt better as the meet went along. I really like powerlifting more than I thought I would.”
Even though the sisters participate in many of the same sports and events, they said they are “not competitive.” Instead they “encourage and help each other out.”
Any time another classmate or Hermleigh teams wins, the girls feel proud.
“It’s still a good feeling when Hermleigh wins,” Aaliyah Sneed said. “It benefits the whole school.”
This is Brishaya Sneed’s first year in one-act play and its the second for her sister.
“I always went to the one-act play practices last year,” Brishaya Sneed said. “Then (drama director) Kelly Richardson asked me if I wanted to be the stage manager.”
She said stage managers have several responsibilities, including timing performances and cuing students when it’s time to go on stage.
She also opens and closes the stage curtain.
The Sneed sisters moved to Hermleigh from Snyder when Aaliyah was in sixth grade and Brishaya was in fifth grade.
They said their mother and her side of the family graduated from Hermleigh High School. Both girls said they like the small-school atmosphere and can participate in as many school activities as they have time for.
Even though Aaliyah Sneed will not graduate until 2017, she is already making post graduation plans. She hopes to attend Angelo State University as the first step in becoming an obstetrician.
“I’ve always wanted to become a doctor, but now I know I want to be a baby doctor.”
Brishaya Sneed, who will graduate in 2018, is considering studying cosmetology at Texas Tech University.