Moniteau president comfortable with lead role
Moniteau High School senior Nick Stockert dabbles in sports, drama, science and more, but says there's nothing unusual about his varied activities.
“My parents exposed me to everything so I always had a lot of interests,” said Stockert, 18. “I went out and tried everything.”
One thing he wasn't expecting to add to his resume was the role of senior class president.
Stockert was voted to the post during school elections held at the end of last year.
“I was pretty pumped about it. It was a cool thing to win,” he said. “I wasn't really expecting it.”
His responsibilities include making arrangements for school dances and even organizing future class reunions, he said.
“I like that I'm the voice of the class and able to make decisions that will affect the rest of the class,” he said.
Some of Stockert's biggest decisions came when planning the senior class trip.
This May, Moniteau's seniors will visit New York City and attend a Broadway show, visit Ground Zero, Little Italy, Chinatown and more.
“We have about half the class going,” he said.
At school, Stockert plays the trumpet and baritone in the marching and jazz bands.
He has been involved with music since fourth grade and stuck with it over the years, although he admits it hasn't always been easy.
“It does take a lot of discipline,” he said. “But it gives you focus and you want to learn more, because the more you learn, the better you get.”
Stockert came to vocal music later, auditioning for the vocal ensemble group as a ninth grader.
He was encouraged by a friend to try out and truly enjoyed this type of performing.
Now singing the part of Tenor 1, he participates in about four performances per year with the group in addition to the school's spring musicals.
After two years in the stage crew, Stockert landed a small role in 2009's “Suessical” after some encouragement from a teacher.
Last year, he landed the lead role of Charlie Bucket in the school's production of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
In this year's production of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical “Cinderella,” he played the role of Lionel, steward to the Prince.“It's a different environment,” he said. “It's neat to not be yourself for a while.”In addition to the music department, Stockert is committed to athletics. Since eighth grade, he has been a member of the cross country team and participated in its 5K races.The next year, he also became involved with track and field, running the 100 and 200 meter races and pole vaulting.“I really like it,” he said. “You can stay in shape and it keeps you active.”On top of his extracurricular activities, Stockert is involved in the community.He volunteers as an assistant scout master for the Boy Scouts of America and became an Eagle Scout in 2009. His Eagle Scout project involved rebuilding the marquee sign at his church, Concord Presbyterian, in West Sunbury.Stockert helped the church obtain its new brick sign, which would have cost several thousand dollars.“I got most of the time, work and materials donated, though,” he said.Helping his church was a natural choice, he said.“They've always been there for me and helped me throughout my entire life,” he said. “It's very family-based and they're always on the lookout for all the kids in the church.”Stockert also works at Mazzanti's Beans and Cream, where he started four years ago scooping ice cream.He soon moved up to shift supervisor and was promoted this year to crew leader.Stockert says it's all about striking the right balance between sports, school and work.“I make sure I get my schoolwork done,” he said.After graduation, Stockert plans to study premedicine but is still weighing his options. At this point, his top three choices are Washington and Jefferson College, Albright College and Harvard University.He and his parents did research independently to narrow the choices down to schools with solid premedicine programs that are affiliated with medical schools, he said.“We did a lot of research online and visited schools to see about their programs,” he said.He said he's always been a strong math and science student, but became especially interested in biology as a high school freshman.“In my ninth grade year, I took biology for the first time and it really sparked my interest,” he said. “I got really into the sciences and looking at the internal anatomy of different organisms.”Now a student in advanced placement biology, Stockert hopes to become a general surgeon.Stockert said he looks forward to learning more about his chosen field and continue his studies in the fall.“I'm pretty excited to experience new things,” he said.
<B>Age: </B>18<B>Address: </B>Clay Township<B>Family: </B>Parents, Ann and Jeff Stockert; brother Josh, 16<B>Education: </B>Senior at Moniteau High School<B>Extracurricular activities: </B>Cross country, track, marching band, jazz band, vocal ensemble, musical<B>Employment: </B>Crew leader at Mazzanti’s Beans and Cream
