Whitewright High School senior twins earn top of class honors

WHITEWRIGHT, Texas (KXII) - Two Whitewright High School seniors that are identical twins earned valedictorian and salutatorian honors for the class of 2022.

Kiley Anderson and her sister Kiera Anderson will be attending Texas Tech in the fall after earning a 3.9, 5.6 weighted, and 4.0 GPA’s respectively.

“I knew I had to study a little harder for the test that I didn’t know as much for,” Kiley said. “That may be an extra hour or 30 minutes, then I would pay attention in class, like actually pay attention in class to make sure that I was ready for those tests.”

Both Kiley and Kiera were in Beta Club for three years, student council for two years and played varsity softball for four years, where Kiley played her way onto the second team all-district last year.

“We’re taking harder classes to get some extra weight, with those classes you have to put in more work but overall it’s just beneficial for your future,” Keira said.

Kiely earned the honor of salutatorian, Kiera valedictorian out of their class of 66 graduating seniors.

Kiley said she plans to study pre-veterinarian medicine in the fall and hopes to specialize in exotic animals.

“I want to start working with big animals, like tigers and cheetahs, and go wherever that takes me,” Kiley said.

Kiera said she plans on studying neurology and focus on diseases of the brain.

“Taking harder classes gives you that extra weight, with those classes you have to put in more work but overall it’s just beneficial for your future,” Kiera said.

Kiley said the academic environment that Whitewright High School provided helped propel her to success.

“It’s such a small town that everybody knows everybody and you always have someone to talk to if you have an issue,” Kiley said. “I know that I can rely on my teachers and coaches and my family to always get me through some hard parts.”

Kiely participated in band for six years and credits her time as a musician to her time management, and credits athletics for helping her build character for the rest of her life.

Zachary Gillen, the head softball coach at Whitewright High School, coached both Kiera and Kiley for four years as his catcher and third baseman.

“Most of the time they’re always cool under pressure,” Gillen said. “They always know where to go with the ball, what to do in certain situations and 00 times out of 100 they execute it just the way they’re supposed to.”

Kiley credits both her and her sister’s hard work for where they are today.

“If you put yourself out there and put yourself into what you’re doing, you’re going to get good results,” Kiley said.