Taylorsville High School Cheer Team Captain Megan Clegg was scheduled to fly to Florida last month to perform in a Disneyworld parade just before Thanksgiving. The trip occurred after our press deadline; but we’ll assume all went well – unlike the many challenges Megan has faced already in her young life.

Born in July 2010, Megan has no memory of losing her first grandparent just six months later. But, at age 10, Clegg does clearly recall losing two other grandparents in 2020, due to COVID complications. Less than three years later, her final grandparent passed when she was between seventh and eighth grades.

Earning All-American status at a recent cheerleading camp made Taylorsville High Varsity Cheer team captain Megan Clegg eligible to perform at Disneyworld last month. (Photo courtesy Barbara Clegg)

Megan’s mom, Barbara Clegg, isn’t exactly sure how much the loss of those grandparents contributed to Megan’s ever-growing anxiety. But she says it became unbearable for her young daughter.

“We began to recognize Megan’s severe anxiety when she was in fifth and sixth grades,” Clegg said. “It became a daily fight to get her up and off to school. We could barely do it. She was just so anxious. This was also right after schools had been shut down for months due to COVID. Megan always thought she was in danger and would text me from school all day long. She had to know I was here.”

Clegg says her daughter never reported being bullied at school. But she describes Megan’s anxiety as overwhelming. Then, as the challenge continued to grow, Megan came home one day with a suggestion for her parents that has turned her life around entirely.

She wanted to attend school, full time, from home.

“Every morning as I was getting ready for school, I would begin to feel physically sick,” Megan said. “But then two of my friends told me about attending school online. I did some research and liked what I saw on the Utah Connections Academy website (connectionsacademy.com). They want you to do well; and they help you reach your expectations.”

Soon, Clegg was doing her own investigating.

“The first online school I researched just felt kind of weird,” she explained. “The second one was very hard to reach – and when I finally spoke with someone there, they had no room. Then I reached out to Utah Connections Academy. They were very transparent – answered all my questions – and said they had room to admit Megan. So, we decided to give it a shot.”

Megan Clegg has a 3.7 GPA this year, doing all of her schoolwork for the Utah Connections Academy from home. (Photo courtesy Barbara Clegg)

Megan began her eighth-grade year with Utah Connections about a month late, in September 2023. But with her anxiety now largely in check – because she was no longer surrounded by other students – Clegg says her daughter was able to catch up with her new, remote classmates and has been thriving ever since.

“Megan logs on each day to be taught, online, by live instructors,” Barbara Clegg continued. “Utah Connections has allowed Megan to figure herself out and to figure out schooling on her own terms. It is a public school and charges no tuition. After struggling for so many years, her GPA is now 3.7. And the other important thing for Megan is, she’s allowed to participate in extracurricular activities at ‘regular’ high schools.” 

That’s where the Taylorsville High School varsity cheerleading team comes in.

Megan’s only sibling is a sister, a dozen years her senior, who was active in cheerleading. Through big sis’s interest, Clegg became a certified cheer coach herself… and Megan got the cheerleading bug at a very young age.

“Megan and I are both cheer coaches for the Special Olympics now,” Clegg explained. “And because Utah Connections Academy doesn’t offer extracurricular activities, their students are allowed concurrent enrollment at ‘regular’ public high schools. That’s what she has at Taylorsville High. That makes her eligible to try out for any of their teams… or for a school play… choir… yearbook staff… anything she would like. So far, she’s concentrating on cheerleading.”

And that’s where Megan excels. A year ago, she earned her way onto the Taylorsville High School varsity cheer squad as a freshman. This year she returned to the varsity squad, and was made a captain, still two years younger than her senior peers. Additionally, Megan is on the school’s competition cheerleading team, which will mean a trip to the national finals in California in February. 

High school sophomore Megan Clegg has endured some big challenges in her young life and is now thriving as Taylorsville High School Varsity Cheer team captain. (Photo courtesy Barbara Clegg)

Also, earlier this year at a cheerleading camp, Megan was named an All-American by the National Cheer Association. This designation is what qualified her to appear in last month’s Florida parade with Mickey Mouse.

But just when everything appeared to finally be on the upswing in Megan’s life – after beginning her online education with Utah Connections Academy – along came one more big challenge, in June of last year.

“I was sitting on the couch with Megan and noticed a lump on her throat,” Clegg said. “The doctors initially did not detect cancer. But when they removed the lump on Oct. 14, 2024, some cancer spots were found. It was out of her body by then, so no radiation or chemotherapy has been necessary. She has her blood screened every four months; and Megan will have to take a thyroid medication pill every day for the rest of her life.”

Compared to the other challenges she’s already faced in her young life, Megan says a pill a day – and a few blood draws – aren’t about to slow her down.

“I love my cheerleading teammates at Taylorsville High and definitely hope to continue on the team for two more years,” she said. “I’m glad I am able to do it (through the concurrent enrollment eligibility) while continuing with Utah Connections Academy. I learn so much better through that program.”

However, looking into her future, Megan also believes she’ll be ready for a more traditional brick-and-mortar setting in a couple of years.

“I’m thinking about studying criminology in college,” she concluded. “But I also definitely want to be involved in a cheer program. I’ve begun researching schools, even though college is a couple of years away. The one I like most so far is the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.”

Oh, in case you are wondering, that school is smack dab in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world – walking distance from Time Square and Central Park, in New York City. Quite a change for a girl who spent years being too anxious to be around elementary school classmates in Utah.