Newnan High School student Will Thomas was named Coweta County’s 2010 STAR student Friday, at the annual STAR Student and Teacher luncheon hosted by the Newnan Rotary Club.

Thomas and three other seniors – from Northgate High School, the Heritage School and East Coweta High School – were honored at the noon event as their school’s STAR students. Each student was accompanied by their chosen STAR teacher, as well as parents, principals and counselors, and the students were introduced by their teachers Friday.

This year’s STAR Students and Teacher, and the parents of Coweta’s four STAR Students, are: 

Newnan High School (and Coweta County) STAR Student John William Thomas
STAR Teacher Sue Dennis (Evans Middle School Language Arts teacher)
Parents David and Lisa Thomas

East Coweta High School STAR Student Rachel Margaret Copeland
STAR Teacher Randy Robbins (East Coweta AP American Literature teacher)
Parents Reid and Marnie Copeland

The Heritage School STAR Student Taylor Hall Harcourt
STAR Teacher Glenda Davis (Heritage AP English teacher)
Parents Ray and Rebecca Harcourt

Northgate High School STAR Student Quocanh Hoang Vu
STAR Teacher John Bilon (Northgate English teacher)
Parents Ken and Thuyanh Vu

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition Program, or STAR Program, is held each year to recognize top academic students at county high schools and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. To be named STAR, students must have the highest score in their school in one sitting on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), taken through the November test date of their senior year.  They must also be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class based on grade point average. STAR students show praise for the educator who most influenced their academic achievement by naming them as their STAR Teacher.

Based on SAT ranking, a top student is selected from among all STAR Students to respresent the county as a whole in upcoming regional STAR recognitions.

The Newnan Rotary Club and President Doug Cantrell hosted the local STAR program for the fourth year. The Newnan Rotary luncheon was also attended by the principals and counselors from each of the four high schools, as well as Coweta County Board of Education members and Coweta County School System Superintendent Blake Bass.

The STAR Program is sponsored state-wide by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, and is held throughout the state of Georgia.  During the past 50 years, the STAR Program has honored more than 20,000 high school seniors who have, in turn, chosen STAR teachers to share in the recognition.

Newnan High’s Thomas and Evans’ Dennis will go on to represent Coweta County in the March STAR Student banquet in Griffin, Georgia.  The State STAR student banquet will be held in Atlanta in April.

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program, or STAR program, was held by the Newnan Rotary Club on Friday, honoring the top students from each of Coweta County’s four high schools.  The STAR Students and Teachers honored were, left to right, Heritage School STAR Student Taylor Hall Harcourt and STAR Teacher Glenda Davis; Newnan High School (and Coweta County) STAR Student John William Thomas and STAR Teacher Sue Dennis; East Coweta High School STAR Student Rachel Margaret Copeland and STAR Teacher Randy Robbins; Northgate High School STAR Student Quocanh Hoang Vu and STAR Teacher John Bilon.

Newnan High School student Will Thomas was named Coweta County’s 2010 STAR student Friday, at the annual STAR Student and Teacher luncheon hosted by the Newnan Rotary Club. From left to right, above, are Newnan High School Principal Doug Moore, NHS counselor Linda Fincher, Coweta County STAR Student Thomas, Coweta County STAR Teacher Sue Dennis (of Evans Middle School), and Evans Middle School Principal Vince Bass.