It’s second nature for Emma Piazza to be on stage and have hundreds of eyes blinking back at her. On Sunday she will give her last performance but this time the setting will be a tad bit different. Her costume, a cap and mortar board. Her prop will be a podium. Her audience, her fellow classmates and loved ones.
Piazza will represent her classmates as the class speaker at Iola High School’s 2015 commencement. She is one of 10, yes 10, valedictorians.
“I’m in great company,” she said. “It’s nice to see a bunch of us succeed and take a breath and say ‘OK, we did it.’”
In her speech she plans give a few words of wisdom that she has collected over the years and will reminisce. What will she miss the most?
“Overall, the unity,” she said. “Since we are such a small school everyone knows everyone and I’ll miss being able to participate in so much.”
Her senior year is one for the books. She was part of the Fillies volleyball team that earned a fourth place trophy at state; the Fillies basketball team made a substate finals appearance; and most recently she won first place in state Forensics in duet acting with classmate Garrett Prall.
“That was a great way to end my year,” she admits.
In the fall she will head north to the University of Kansas to study musicology. While her parents, Tony and Terri Piazza, both have music and theater backgrounds, their interests weren’t the deciding factor on her major. Music is what she has always been passionate about.
“My parents always encouraged me to make own decisions,” she said. “You could say music is in my bones. I come from an artistic background and they definitely have influenced me but they let us [she and her brother, Alex] go through self-exploration. I know I want to go into the music industry and I don’t think that will change.”
She will perform several acts during the 50th Annual Little Oscars ceremony on Saturday night.
Two teachers are tied as Piazza’s favorite teacher, Mrs. Dianne Kauth and Mr. Travis Hermstein. She loved Kauth’s kind heartedness and teaching style. Hermstein taught her favorite subject, history.
“If I could I would take that class every year,” she said.
She would still like to be a part of student government in college and she plans to audition for the choir at KU.
“I want to stay involved in college and also be active in intramural activities,” she said.
Piazza earned several scholarships and awards some of which include the Kansas State Scholars Curricuclum Completion, 2015 Designated State Scholar and Education Excellence Award.
IHS offers stage for achievement
