The Kiwanis Club of Gainesville held its annual STAR Student and Teacher luncheon at First Baptist Church on Tuesday afternoon.
The event honors students and teachers across Hall County and Gainesville.
A press release from the Hall County School District said that the event recognizes all of the city and county high schools' STAR Students and STAR Teachers with a framed certificate, sponsored by Gainesville Kiwanis.
The PAGE Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program is sponsored, administered and promoted by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators and the PAGE Foundation.
The STAR program, which is now in its 67th year, has honored nearly 30,000 students and the teachers they have selected as the most influential in their academic achievement.
Graduating 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.
The list of 2025 winners are listed below:
Hall County School District
- Cherokee Bluff High School: Nico Rios Aricapa (Student) and Jeremy Purdy (Teacher)
- Chestatee High School: Charlie Bradshaw (Student) and Rodney Stephens (Teacher)
- East Hall High School: Ethan Brinson (Student) and Vincent Tancredi (Teacher)
- Flowery Branch High School: Benvon Roberts (System STAR Student) and Kelley Brumbelow (System STAR Teacher)
- Genesis Academy: Caleb Howington (Student) and Eric Rodrigues (Teacher)
- Johnson High School: Isobel McCain (Student) and Deborah Eidson (Teacher)
- Johnson High School: Andy Nguyen (Student) and Melanie Beard (Teacher)
- Lanier Christian Academy: Lily Rowan (Student) and Laura Keefer (Teacher)
- North Hall High School: Athena Vachtsevanos (Student) and Tiffany Howell (Teacher)
- West Hall High School: Thomas Giggey (Student) and Danielle Deraney (Teacher)
Gainesville City System
- Gainesville High School: Mercy Rilo (Student) and Chandra Karnati (Teacher)
- Lakeview Academy: Harrison Slattery (Student) and Craig Waddell (Teacher)
- Riverside Preparatory Academy: Makana Dyrud (System STAR Student) and Andrew Jobson (System STAR Teacher)
Flowery Branch High School and Riverside Preparatory Academy winners received special recognition as System STAR Students and STAR Teachers for their excellence within their school district as reflected above.
The University of North Georgia’s College of Education will host the Region 2 recognition banquet of STAR Students and Teachers on March 11 at 6:00 p.m.
Region 2 consists of schools in the following counties: Dawson, Fannin, Gainesville City, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, White, and Mountain Ed. Charter School System.
Region winners then compete to be named the Georgia PAGE STAR Student.
STAR Teachers continue with their STAR Students at every level of the program.
