The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program honors Georgia’s outstanding high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. During the past 58 years, the STAR Program has honored more than 25,000 high school seniors who have in turn chosen their STAR Teachers to share in this recognition.

The STAR program was launched in 1958 by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. In 1994, the PAGE Foundation was invited to assume the responsibility for the oversight, administration and promotion of the statewide program. The 90,000 members of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators and the trustees of the PAGE Foundation are honored to recognize Georgia’s future leaders and the professional educators who have nurtured these scholars.

Every accredited high school in Georgia is eligible to participate in the STAR program. To obtain the STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on the test date on the three-part SAT taken through the November test date of their senior year and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class based on grade point average. Each high school STAR Student is asked to name his/her STAR Teacher.

High school STAR Students compete for system titles; and system STAR Students in turn compete for region honors in the 12 STAR Regions. Region winners and their STAR teachers are invited to Atlanta to compete for the state STAR scholarships and awards.

Locally, STAR Students and STAR Teachers are honored by their schools and receive special recognition in their communities from the more than 165 civic organizations and businesses that serve as local sponsors of the STAR program. The State PAGE STAR Banquet, held in Atlanta last month, recognized local STAR students from all over Georgia. The following is a list of the 2016 East Cobb high school students and teachers honored at the annual State PAGE Student and Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) banquet.

KELL HIGH SCHOOL
STAR Student: Karen Wu

STAR Teacher: Ann Nemeck

LASSITER HIGH SCHOOL
STAR Student: Sarah Lezaj

STAR Teacher: Beth Morgan

POPE HIGH SCHOOL
STAR Student: Jose Espinel

STAR Teacher: Lynda Brown

SPRAYBERRY HIGH SCHOOL
STAR Student: Stefan Best

STAR Teacher: Natasha Beemon

WALTON HIGH SCHOOL
STAR Student: Eujin Jang

STAR Teacher: Alan Farnsworth

WALTON HIGH SCHOOL
STAR Student: Hideto Mori

STAR Teacher: Jennifer Snoddy

WHEELER HIGH SCHOOL
STAR Student: Erwin Cai – Region Winner

STAR Teacher: Raymond Furstein

Reprinted from EAST COBBER’s May 2016 issue

Would you like to recognize the star student in your life? Please share his/her name with us below!