Long before she dazzled on the red carpet at Sunday's Oscars, Scottsdale native Emma Stone left her mark all across the Valley, especially at Sequoya Elementary School in Scottsdale.
"You could have a whole class full of Emmas!" explains Vicki Dunn, Stone's second-grade teacher.
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A whole class full of bright eyes, tiny freckles, and a big smile: it's a face her teachers remember all too well, and that's not the only thing about her that's unforgettable.
Few dozen people at #EmmaStone old stomping grounds - Valley Youth Theater - for a special #Oscars Watch Party! @abc15 #OscarsAZ pic.twitter.com/2udcuO9D2H
— Nick Ciletti (@NickCiletti) February 27, 2017
"She had such energy," explained Sandy Anderson, who had Emma in kindergarten. "She had a zest for life, no matter what you put in front of her."
But did she ever wind up in the principal's office?
"Oh heck yes! She came in a lot," Maureen Bradley, a former principal at Sequoya, said. But she later clarified, saying, "only for good things. Never discipline problems! She has a beautiful heart. She's a beautiful person."
Teachers like Lois Goldman remember Emma's acting chops from a young age. In the first grade, Goldman cast her in her first play, "No Turkey for Perky."
"She just loved it!" she explains. "She was spunky for sure."
Her former teachers also remember how she knew exactly what she wanted, even from a young age. In her fifth-grade yearbook students were asked to write about what they wanted to be when they grew up.
"Emily wrote, 'I think, I hope I will be a movie star,'" recalled Christy Hilliker, Emma's fifth-grade science teacher.
