The Gainesville Kiwanis Club honored the 2017 STAR Students and Teachers from the Hall County and Gainesville City School Systems.
Of the seven county high schools, Johnson High's Jackson Patrick Kelly won the County System STAR Student Award, and Dhruv Gaur of Lakeview Academy won the City System STAR Student Award out of the three city high schools.
Here are all the STAR Students and STAR Teachers honored from each area school.
| County School | STAR Student | STAR Teacher |
| Chestatee High School | Ivan Alexander Martin | Natalie White |
| East Hall High School | Grace Hilley | Ginger Workman |
| Flowery Branch High School | Alexis Marie Durling | Dennis Naughton |
| Johnson High School | Jackson Patrick Kelly | Gary Martin |
| Lanier Christian Academy | Charles Wallen | Alan Dills |
| North Hall High School | Paula Carmen Rios | Tony Wagner |
| West Hall High School | Christopher Joss Arbise | Lela Whelchel |
| City School | STAR Student | STAR Teacher |
| Gainesville High School | Anna Diaz | Chandra Karnati |
| Lakeview Academy | Dhruv Gaur | Philip Chittaro |
| Riverside Military Academy | Kelvin Xicheng Lee | Brenda Barger |
The PAGE Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program, now in its 59th
year, is sponsored, administered, and promoted by the Professional Association of
Georgia Educators (PAGE) Foundation.
Since its creation by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in 1958, the STAR program has honored nearly 26,000 students and the teachers selected as the most influential to their academic achievement.
To obtain the STAR nomination, 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.
STAR begins each year at participating Georgia high schools when the STAR Student is named and chooses a STAR Teacher to share in this recognition. The students and their teachers are honored by their schools and receive special recognition in their
communities from one of the more than 165 statewide civic organizations and businesses that serve as local sponsors of the STAR program.
Students then compete for school system titles, and those winners compete for region honors. Region winners go on to compete for the honor of being named State PAGE STAR Student of the Year.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/2/504392