Silver State graduate, 16, named school's youngest valedictorian

Silver State Charter High School's youngest valedictorian, 16-year-old Parker Stanfield, achieved a 3.97 GPA to graduate with honors Tuesday in Carson City.

The son of Fernley Councilwoman Kelly Malloy and her husband, Ryan, Stanfield attended Fernley Intermediate School before finding that he had surpassed what was offered in the local school system. He excelled in algebra and biology and tested high enough to enroll in Silver State High School as a freshman at age 13. There, he was able to work at his own pace and graduate in three years.

Stanfield has been active in the Fernley Youth City Council, BAC Stage Kids and other local theatrical groups, where he discovered an appetite for drama.

"I was very young when I decided I wanted to be involved in filmmaking," he said. "As I got older, I realized it was a bit more complicated and realized how artistic it is."

Stanfield took the endeavor seriously enough to build his own filming dolly one summer.

Now, he will be pursuing his desired career at University of Nevada, Reno, with plans to transfer to the University of Southern California to complete his education.

"I'd eventually like to get into directing," Stanfield said.

Stanfield received the Faculty and Staff Scholarship and the Millennium Scholarship as well as the Nevada Scholars Scholarship from UNR.

In his valedictory address, Stanfield said the charter school helped him "strengthen my ability to educate myself independently."

He credited the school with providing the chance to study not just from books but to go out into the field and research history on his own.

"As independent learners, we weren't always reading the handy history books to get the job done."

Stanfield said the teachers weren't there to hold students' hands, but to "give us the opportunity to make arguments, not just for the sake of the First Amendment but for the sake of logic and understanding. And I applaud them for that."