Stony Point High School 2018 Top Ten
As seniors across Round Rock ISD prepare to celebrate graduation, we take a moment to recognize the top ten students from each campus by asking them about their journey through Round Rock ISD and their next steps after graduation.
Neeti Swami
Valedictorian
What college will you be attending next year?
I will be attending Texas Tech University and study biochemistry pre-medicine.
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I attended Fern Bluff Elementary School, Walsh Middle School, and Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
One of my best memories would be the International Baccalaureate (IB) Group 4 project in my Junior year. There’s nothing quite like being able to spend a whole day working with friends to try and save the human population from Earth’s imminent demise by neutron star. Everyone has a different spin on a solution (some more hilarious or serious than others) and using our combined scientific expertise in physics, computer science, biology, and chemistry (my favorite) was I think one of my most satisfying academic experiences.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
Ms. Ormersher was my 5th grade teacher at Fern Bluff who was an absolutely amazing person. We learned area by pushing our desks into different shapes and walking them, spent a whole unit role playing as British subjects in the 13 colonies, and had afternoons dedicated to playing class capture-the-flag. More than that though, she taught me a lot about who I wanted to be as a person by the way that she taught our class- someone who was patient with anyone and everyone, enthusiastic with anything she did, and helpful with solving problems without even asking.
Laura Huynh
Salutatorian
What college will you be attending next year?
I am attending the University of Texas at Austin next year and will be majoring in international relations and global studies
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I attended Old Town Elementary, Walsh Middle School and Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
My best memory I have of my time in Round Rock ISD was when I went camping for 2 days with 3 other girls and my teacher for my AP Environmental Science class. This was my best memory because we got to do a bunch of things like go to an owl sighting event (where a little kid answered all of the park ranger’s obscure questions about owls), attempted to set up two tents in the dark, hiked around a river, ate good food, and played board games like Uno and Heads Up. It was also the very first time I ever went camping.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
My 11th grade math teacher, Ms. Holliday has been my most influential teacher because she taught me how to persevere through difficult times whether that be in my academic or social life. She also made learning pre-calculus extremely fun and engaging. I will never forget all the good memories and jokes that were made in her classroom.
Johnny Nguyen
No. 3
What college will you be attending next year?
I will be attending the University of Texas at Dallas to major in literary studies.
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I attended Double File Trail Elementary School, Hernandez Middle School and Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
Every year, all the International Baccalaureate (IB) seniors and teachers get together in the library for a day for our Extended Essay seminar where we start talking about what we’re going to do for our independent research paper where we investigate basically anything we want. I loved being able to talk about my interests and what I might explore, and I got feedback from a lot of other seniors and teachers that really helped me refine my research question and got me hooked onto writing my essay. I also just liked hearing about other people’s passions and the topics that they wanted to cover in-depth, whether it was computer science or a specific historical event.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
I actually have two, and both of them have been the school newspaper adviser during my four years at Stony Point—Ms. Rebecca Plumley and Ms. Holly Nichols. They both taught me more than just how to write, and through the program I learned how to be professional and communicate my own ideas effectively. They showed me a lot of valuable skills and I learned to love writing and sharing other peoples’ stories through them.
Shayna-Mindel Stewart
No. 4
What college will you be attending next year?
I will be attending Texas A&M University at College Station and majoring in biomedical sciences.
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I attended Robertson Elementary School, Hernandez Middle School, and Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
It’s hard to pinpoint a specific memory that stands out in my mind, but my favorite memories during my time in Round Rock ISD would have to be the traveling with other students on trips for FFA competitions, because they’re filled with people that have had a huge impact on who I am today and because they’re once in a lifetime experiences that I won’t be able to recreate. Through these contests, I’ve learned to step out of my comfort zone and have made friendships that will last a lifetime.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
The most influential teacher I’ve had would be my English teacher of three years, Ms. De la Cruz, because she’s always been friendly and open minded, and is not afraid to talk about her favorite novels/movies in front of the class. She constantly puts her best effort into everything she does and is very understanding of different people’s situations and unexpected events that suddenly pop up at the last minute. She has a great sense of humor and is able to quickly adapt when things don’t go exactly as planned, and overall, is a wonderful person that I’m very thankful to have had the pleasure of having for a teacher.
Daniel Moran
No. 5
What college will you be attending next year?
I will be attending University of Texas at Austin and studying electrical engineering.
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
In the summer of 2013, I moved from Roseville, California to begin the 8th grade at Hopewell Middle School. Then, I spent the best four years of my academic journey at Stony Point.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
My experiences competing in shot put and discus have given me some of my favorite memories in Round Rock ISD. The community I found amongst the throwers was welcoming and encouraging. Coach Sabock was a motivating throwing coach, and he was always pointing out ways we could improve. Throwing shot put and discus allowed me to grow in my fitness and gave balance to life in an area apart from rigorous academics.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
Ms. JoAnn Holliday has been my most influential teacher. She taught me Pre-IB Precalculus and International Baccalaureate (IB) Mathematics SL during my sophomore and junior years, respectfully. While in Ms. Holliday’s class, I developed my passion for math and excelled due to her teaching. I loved her style of teaching. Holliday was direct and constantly positive. When I took the Math SL IB exam, I had never felt more prepared for a test in my life. That is a testament to how well she prepared my class.
Sarah Hildalgo
No. 6
What college will you be attending next year?
I will be attending the University of Texas at Austin to study biochemistry/pre-medical studies
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I attended Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
One of my best memories was joining Crossroads at my school in freshman year and attending my first meeting. I was so excited to be surrounded by students with similar values and beliefs as me and I appreciate being part of this community to this day.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
I think the most influential teacher I have had in Round Rock ISD is Mr. Ryan White. I have had him as a teacher for all 4 years of my high school career and he has just been a really supportive, encouraging teacher who has pushed me and peers to be the best students we can be.
Gianna De Jacimo-McGough
No. 7
What college will you be attending next year?
I will be studying petroleum engineering at the University of Texas in Austin.
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I attended Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
It’s really hard to pinpoint an exact memory, I’ve had so many great experiences in high school. However, I did really enjoy the diverse range of classes I got to take, ranging from architecture to engineering, that allowed me to discover my true interests for college.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
The most influential teacher I’ve had is Jeff Thomas, my AP World History and AP European History teacher. He helped motivate me towards my goals and taught me that I don’t have to be conventional to be a leader.
Alejandra Gage
No.8
What college will you be attending next year?
I will be attending University of North Texas and studying ecology (environmental science).
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I attended Double File Trail Elementary School, Hernandez Middle School, and Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
The best memory I had of my time in Round Rock ISD is when I was in fourth grade at Double File Trail and I saw snow for the first time. The teachers gave us black construction paper and let us go outside and play in the rare, Texas snow for an hour and a half. It was so amazing because I’d never seen snow until that day.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
My most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD has been Mr. Jones, who now teaches at Ridgeview Middle School. He was my 8th grade US History teacher at Hernandez Middle School and he was kind and compassionate when I was really struggling. I didn’t have a lot of friends at the time and he was there for me; he went above and beyond just what his job called for.
Briana Cuero
No.9
What college will you be attending next year?
I will be attending the University of Texas at Austin and studying mechanical engineering.
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I attended Double File Trail Elementary School, Hernandez Middle School, and Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
My favorite memory of all of my time in Round Rock ISD is the presentation of the play I wrote. Everyone was crying, which was what I was aiming for, and it was really gratifying to have such a personal narrative be accepted by everyone.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
Sunshine Morgan, my theatre teacher. She has always been very supportive in everything I have done during high school, and I am forever grateful for the advice she has given me that changed my life.
Nonso Chukwurah
No.10
What college will you be attending next year?
I will study electrical and computer engineering at Rice University.
What campuses in Round Rock ISD did you attend?
I went to Double File Trail Elementary, Teravista Elementary, Hopewell Middle School and Stony Point High School.
What is your favorite memory of your time in Round Rock ISD?
My best memory was running my TAME club at Stony Point High School.
Who has been your most influential teacher in Round Rock ISD?
My Third Grade teacher Mrs. Gutille, she got me into the TAG program during elementary school and that set me on the track to learn more about engineering and computer science.
