Marissa Woo from Gainesville High School and Kevin Jiang of Flowery Branch High School recently were recognized as the STAR students for the Gainesville City School System and the Hall County School District, respectively.
Woo, who will be the GHS valedictorian, also was named the STAR student for Georgia's Region 2, which includes students from Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns and White counties, as well as the Gainesville City School System and Mountain Ed. Charter School System. Woo was honored at a virtual celebration on April 22, hosted by the University of North Georgia's College of Education.
Woo now advances with other Georgia Region winners to the State PAGE STAR Student competition. A panel of judges will select the state winner based on a written comprehensive application and a statement from each Region Star Teacher provided in support of his/her STAR Student. Besides the SAT scores, other factors play a significant role in determining the State PAGE STAR Student including scholarships, academic ability, leadership, citizenship, personal objective, extracurricular activities, personal philosophy, initiative, opinions, and attitudes. The winner of the state competition will be announced in a virtual celebration on Monday, May 17.
The following students from the Hall County School District were named STAR students for their individual high schools. Also listed are the STAR teachers selected by the students.
Cherokee Bluff High School
Austin Wallace and Mr. Jeremy Purdy
Chestatee High School
Abby Boyer and Mr. Jeff Kelly
East Hall High School
Andrea Lopez and Mr. Daniel Stainback
*Flowery Branch High School (county winner)
Kevin Jiang and Ms. Melodee Lackey
Johnson High School
Rosa Figueroa and Mr. Scott McConnell
Lanier Christian Academy
Esther Cho and Ms. Katy Foster
North Hall High School
Anna Catherine Brewer and Mr. Chris Haynes
West Hall High School
Ashley Alcantar and Ms. Rubia Castro Diaz
The following students from the City of Gainesville were named STAR students for their individual schools. Also listed are the STAR teachers selected by the students.
*Gainesville High School (city winner)
Marissa Wood and Mr. Chandra Karnati
Lakeview Academy
Grace Liu and Ms. Teresa Hughes
Riverside Military Academy
Oscar Fang and Mr. Andrew Jobson
The PAGE Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program is sponsored, administered and promoted by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) and the PAGE Foundation. Since its creation, the STAR program has honored nearly 28,000 students and the teachers they have selected as the most influential to their academic achievement. High school seniors must have the highest score on a single test date on the SAT and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class based on grade point average to qualify for STAR nomination.
