Category: Education

From the moment Wesley Chapel High (WCH) senior Symone Stanley entered the world, her mother, Angella Jones, thought big things would come her way. There was just something about the way she looked.

One of those big things happened last month: Symone was named WCH’s Class of 2016 valedictorian.

“When she was born, there is a picture of her when she was two days old,’’ Angella says. “She was so alert. Her eyes were wide open, she was looking around like she was looking for something. This must be one of the things she was looking for.”

Symone, 18, and her fellow WCH seniors graduated last week at the University of South Florida Sun Dome, and she left at the top of her class, after posting a 4.64 weighted grade point average.

Symone gave the traditional speech, which she admitted she was nervous about. However, she is thrilled to have accomplished one of her biggest goals.

“I was pretty excited when I found out,’’ Symone says. “My freshman and sophomore year I didn’t really even know much about it, but after I found out my junior year that me and a few other people were tied, I figured I might as well go for it.”

While Symone may not have been specifically going for valedictorian in her early days at Wesley Chapel, she was indirectly, according to Angella.

Always a top student, Angella says her daughter has always strived to be No. 1 in whatever she did.

While at Thomas E. Weightman Middle School, Symone was already taking high school math classes, which led to AP classes in high school, giving her the edge over other students.

Angella says she never pushed her daughter, and sometimes would even ask her to slow down and dial it back when night turned into morning and Symone was still hitting the books.

“My mom (Symone’s grandmother) was living with us and she would get up at 3 a.m. to take her medicine late at night, and Symone would be sitting in the middle of the floor, with her books all around her, studying,’’ Angella says.

“I always told her you have to work hard for what you get, because no one is going to bring it to you. Sometimes I’ll tell her to go to bed, and she’ll say, ‘I’m just working hard.’”

Symone, however, says her mother never pushed her too hard. When the pressure to be valedictorian started to build, it was Angella who told her daughter it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she didn’t finish first.

“But, I’m pretty self-motivated,’’ says Symone, who also was accepted into USF and Florida State University but will attend the University of Florida in Gainesville.

That’s the way Symone has always been, Angella says. When she was six months old, Angella remembers being at her brother’s house and Symone was entranced as she watched a VHS tape that was playing Mozart with a ball bouncing along each note as the song played. Symone turned around to the adults talking over the music, and sighed. Then, she went back to watching the television. “She couldn’t talk, but she voiced her displeasure,’’ Angella says, laughing.

Symone, who enjoys rollerblading, rock climbing and being outdoors, says she is thinking about studying to be an occupational therapist.

At WCH, Symone volunteered at Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel and with Special Olympics and special needs children, while also being a member of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club. A member of the National Spanish Honor Society and the student government as well, Symone says she was able to balance extracurricular activities with academic pursuits by finding the right balance by fitting online courses at Pasco Hernando State College into her schedule.

Not much of a public speaker, Symone fretted over her valedictorian speech. Relatives traveled from New York, Texas, Atlanta and Orlando to watch her receive top honors.

Angella was nervous for her daughter. However, Symone nailed the speech.

“I’ll never forget her first year of school, her kindergarten teacher told me, “When Symone digs her heels into the sand, all bets are off,’’ Angella says. “I’ll never forget it. When Symone says she is going to do something, it’s done.”

As many high school students approach their senior years, they choose classes they think will be fun and interesting. That’s the approach Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) Class of 2016 valedictorian Ethan Munden took, although what’s fun and interesting to him might cause other students to raise an eyebrow. His senior classes included AP calculus B/C, AP computer science, AP physics 1, AP physics 2, AP environmental science, plus honors government and economics.

“Other people might not think these classes are fun,” says Ethan. “But I do.”

By taking the most rigorous courses and earning straight As, Ethan earned his school’s top weighted GPA of 4.67.

Ethan didn’t have English on his schedule because he had taken a college-level dual enrollment English class during his junior year, “to get it out of the way.” He wanted to focus on the math and science courses that really interest him.

“Calculus is a lot of fun,” he says. “It’s interesting because there are some odd math concepts that aren’t explored that much in algebra. It’s teaching a new way of thinking.”

He says he also enjoyed chemistry, “because of its real world applications.”

Munden will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA, in the fall.

He’s not sure yet what he wants to major in, but says he is leaning toward electrical or chemical engineering. He says he’s also interested in computers and coding, and his environmental science class made him consider a professional interest in energy and alternative energy.

“I really haven’t figured it all out yet,” he admits.

Although Ethan was born in Oregon, he started kindergarten at Wesley Chapel Elementary and lived in the same house, going to local schools, his whole life. He says leaving his family and friends to go all the way to MIT is a “big jump.” In true mathematical fashion, he says he’s “50 percent excited and 50 percent nervous.”

His two older sisters are college students – one at Florida State University in Tallahassee and one at University of South Florida in Tampa. His younger sister will start high school next year.

The first three years of high school, Ethan was in band, playing saxophone and bassoon, and spun flags, rifles and sabres in the color guard. He decided to take this year off from those activities and figures when he gets to Massachusetts, he’ll be looking for new activities to pursue. When he visited MIT, he realized there are a lot of clubs and many new activities to pursue, everything from juggling to gymnastics.

This year, Ethan served as president of his school’s National Science Honor Society, and was a member of Key Club.

He says he never really focused on the goal of becoming valedictorian.

“At the beginning of high school, I thought about it, but I decided I wanted to take the classes I thought I would enjoy taking.” But, he says, “I put it a lot of work to keep up my grades and manage all the homework.”

He says he realized he could be valedictorian at the beginning of his senior year, when his friend Neil Sambhu created a computer program to estimate the GPAs of many of the school’s top students. It predicted that Ethan and Neil would be at the very top of the class, based on the classes they were taking, and assuming they earned all As.

As it turns out, Neil’s program was correct, as he is graduating as the WRH Class of 2016 salutatorian.

Ethan generally comes across as very laid back, even when talking about being named valedictorian.

“People say I’m calm and collected,” he says. “But, I’m very excited.”

When asked if he thinks being valedictorian is going to help him in the future, he had these wise words to say:

“I think what’s more important is what I’ve gained from working hard and striving for success. That’s how I got to be valedictorian, and that’s more important than the title.”