Extra Effort: Family helps WHHS's Sydney Jackson develop into leader

Sydney Jackson is a team captain in softball, volleyball and basketball at Western Harnett High School.

"Sydney is a leader," said girls basketball and volleyball coach Matthew Smith. "She one percent was the second coach on the floor, and she saw stuff that sometimes I didn't see."

"That's Sydney Jackson. She's going to show you the correct way to do it because she knows the correct way to do it," said softball coach Stephen Hales.

"And people follow her because she's a good person," said Western Harnett English teacher Jessica Schieferly.

But Jackson had to learn to be a leader, because she has two twin sisters, Olivia and Morgan, who are two years older.

"Since they were always together, (I) was always competing against two people," Jackson said. "Whenever we would get into a fight, when you're younger, it would always be them against me. It just made me be stronger and grow into a better person and fight off two people rather than one."

But Jackson loves her sisters too. She signed to play softball in college at Fayetteville State and will be on the same team as both her sisters.

"She really wanted to play with her bigger sisters," said Hales.

"I am a family-oriented person, so not being so far away will make the experience way better," Jackson said.

As for Jackson's leadership, it carries to the classroom. She is editor of the yearbook and has a 4.4 grade point average.

"Once she's in a setting where she's able to take the lead or organize others, she really flourishes," Schieferly said. "I don't know honestly what I would do without her."

"Although she is a good athlete, she's a better person," added Smith.

"She's happy-go-lucky. If the sun is up, it's great. If it's cloudy, it's still great," said Hales.