Each year, Cumberland County Schools names a graduating senior at each high school as a Standout Senior. The 17 2023 Standout Seniors are bright, hard-working students who have overcome the odds to graduate and dedicate themselves to serving their community.
To learn more about their plans to attend college, serve in the military or begin their careers, go to www.ccs.k12.nc.us/graduation.
Danya Yvette Grady will graduate from Reid Ross Classical High School. She answered these questions about her education and her future.
The accomplishment that I am most proud of in my life so far is being selected to be a part of the 2022 North Carolina Governor’s School. It was quite a demanding process and had me on edge the whole time. Once I was selected, I was so relieved. I attended Governor’s School in the area of visual arts, which gave me noticeably more confidence in my art.
My plans after graduation are to attend North Carolina A&T to obtain a degree in bioengineering. I want to begin learning the processes for making and designing biomaterials so I can begin my own projects. I also plan on keeping up with my skills on the cello by possibly taking joint classes at UNC-Greensboro. The cello has been a big part of my life, and I don’t plan to give up on it just because I’m attending college.
I accrued 56 hours during my junior and senior years.
I have received two scholarships so far. One was a merit scholarship from UNC-Asheville for $20,000 over four years, and the second was a merit scholarship from NC A&T for $28,000 over four years.
My extracurricular activities include playing the cello with various orchestras, participating in dance classes several times per week, and working with varying forms of art. I am also a member of the Student-to-Student service organization. The activity that is my favorite is playing the cello. Music has always been a very important part of my life, as I have grown up around it. To be able to play an instrument myself is an accomplishment. The cello can create so many sounds even without the other members of the orchestra. I recently joined a cello choir in which there are just cellos playing orchestra music. It’s such an amazing experience. The variety of sounds we can make is astonishing. The cello is something I will always cherish, and I will stick with it for a long time.
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” — Dolly Parton
Cumberland County Schools gave me access to High School Connections classes at Fayetteville Technical Community College. These classes allowed me to learn various important skills such as American Sign Language and the ins and out of visual design and copyright. I’ve also been well prepared by my supportive teachers who have taught me and prepared me for life after high school. They have pushed me in ways I will always remember, and I am glad to have been taught by them.
There are two teachers who have had a lasting impact on me actually, so much so that I can’t pick just one or the other. These two teachers are Janice Swoope and Stacy Plotts. Mrs. Swoope is my orchestra teacher and has been since I was in the sixth grade. She has always taught me and all her students to never give up and to have confidence in our abilities. She always pushes us to go for things, like auditioning for All-County, even if we’re scared, because she has confidence in us. That has played a huge part in making me into the cello player I am today. The other teacher, Mrs. Plotts, I have known since I was 4 or 5 years old. She is my ballet teacher and was my sixth-grade social studies teacher. She has also played a big role in boosting my confidence, as she has taught me to not second-guess what I do when I dance and to just believe in myself. I never would’ve even tried to do a solo this year if I hadn’t had her in my corner. Both of these teachers have taught me valuable lessons that I will always remember, and I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to be their student.
I attended William T. Brown Elementary School in Spring Lake.
