Local STAR students, teachers create shining examples of academic achievement

Come spring and the STARs shine in local high schools.

These STARs are hundreds of students from across Georgia who are honored through the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program. This year, 21 STAR students were selected from high schools in Reporter Newspaper communities.

These high school seniors were chosen for posting high SAT scores and showing scholarship, initiative and other leadership traits, according to the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, or PAGE, which has operated the STAR program since 1994 in association with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the state Department of Education.

To be chosen as STARS, students must have the highest score on the SAT taken through the November test date of their senior year. They must also be in the top 10 percent or among the top 10 students in their class based on grade point average, according to PAGE.

Each STAR student picks his or her STAR teacher to honor an educator who has been instrumental in the student’s academic development.

Regional STAR students are to be announced this month. The students and teachers will be celebrated at a banquet at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Ravinia Hotel in Dunwoody on April 23.

Over the past 53 years, the STAR program has honored more than 22,500 high school seniors, PAGE says. Any accredited high school in Georgia is eligible to take part in the program, PAGE says.

Here are the STAR students and teachers for high schools in Reporter Newspapers communities.

Atlanta Girls’ School