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This year’s STAR students and teachers from Troup County’s high schools were presented during the LaGrange Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday.

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program was created to focus public attention on Georgia’s outstanding high school students and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development over the years. The STAR program has recognized more than 30,000 high school seniors who have, in turn, chosen their star teachers to share the recognition each year.

The Rotary Club of LaGrange has participated in the program since its inception in 1959.

The top academic senior in each participating high school is named their STAR student based on their SAT score and grade point average,

This year’s STAR students are Michael Hardy (Callaway High School),  Lauren Kelly (Lafayette Christian),  Jiyun Kim (LaGrange Academy), Lucas Ernstberger (LaGrange High School) and Yuri Kim (Troup High School).

Their STAR teachers are Melissa Stanley (Callaway), Whitney Humphries (Lafayette Christian), Munira Fidahussein (LaGrange), Misty Jo Ward (LaGrange Academy) and Tiffany Graham (Troup).

The selected students had the highest score in one sitting of the SAT through November of their senior year. They also have to be in the top 10% or be one of the top 10 students of their class based on grade point average.

The STAR students also get to select their STAR teacher who helped them the most in their scholastic career.

Callaway STAR student Michael Hardy said he wants to attend Georgia Tech to study Mathematics and Philosophy. Hardy said he struggled early on with math, particularly with multiplication, but when he was able to break through, it encouraged a love of learning and math. His high school stats and calc teacher, Melissa Stanley, helped him hone his skills in math.

“With her being my teacher, she made me like math even more, more than I thought I was going to,” Hardy said, “It’s really the main reason why I’m going to major in math.”

Lafayette Christian STAR student Lauren Kelly said her star teacher, Whitney Humphries, changed her life and made her want to be a teacher.

“She has taught me discipline, application, patience and gratitude. The first time ever that I truly felt challenged and kind of frustrated in school was when taking one of her tests,” Kelly said. “Standing here today, I can say with confidence that Miss Humphrey’s fingerprints will forever be on my heart and I hope that mine will someday leave the same imprint on the lives of those that I [teach].”

LaGrange Academy STAR student Jiyun Kim said she is considering attending Georgia Tech to study Computer Engineering.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to recognize someone who has had such a significant impact on my academic journey and on me as a person. Ms. Munira taught me throughout all four years of high school, from pre-calculus to AP calculus, statistics and even physics, fostering a genuine interest in math and leading to my decision to pursue a strongly math-based subject in college. Her explanations helped me focus on understanding the concept itself rather than simply memorizing the equations. This allowed me to apply the concept to other complex problems,” Kim said.

LaGrange High School STAR student Lucas Ernstberger was selected as the overall STAR student for Troup County. Ernstberger is looking to pursue a degree in Chemistry at either Georgia Tech, Mercer or Georgia College & State University.

Ernstberger said he has had a lot of amazing teachers at LaGrange High, but Misty Jo Ward is among the best.

“Ms. Ward especially has been the most beneficial and most influential on me,” Ernstberger said. “I’ve been so blessed to get to know Ms.Ward during my time at LaGrange High School. She is such an amazing coach, an amazing teacher, an amazing person, and it’s really my honor to have her as my teacher.”

Yuri Kim said as a more reserved student, his STAR Teacher, Tiffany Graham, helped him gain confidence. 

“I learned how to talk to people and how to connect because of Ms. Graham. I’m definitely more confident, so Ms. Graham, thank you. Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for challenging me, and thank you for making a difference in my life. I have a feeling that I’m not the only one,” Yuri said.