Coweta County has a new STAR student. It’s Newnan High School student Thomas Schulz who was named with the honor at a Feb. 26 ceremony.
Schulz appeared with his chosen STAR Teacher Ingrid Richardson at the Newnan Rotary Club’s annual STAR program, held Friday at the Newnan Country Club.
STAR Students from East Coweta High School, the Heritage School, Newnan High School, Northgate High School, and Trinity Christian School were all honored at the event, along with their chosen STAR Teachers, parents and school principals.
This year’s STAR Students and Teachers from Coweta County’s five participating schools were:
• East Coweta High School STAR Student Chae Bin Park and STAR Teacher Kristi Lanave (AP Physics teacher, East Coweta High). Parents Dongwone Park and Youngsun Jeon.
• The Heritage School STAR Student Madison Ann Crymes and STAR Teacher Dorothy Rich (AP Calculus and Statistics teacher, Heritage). Parents Tom and Laura Crymes.
• Newnan High School STAR Student Thomas Schulz and STAR Teacher Ingrid Richardson (REACH teacher, Northside Elementary, retired). Parents Bob and Vicky Schulz.
• Northgate High School STAR Student Alexander Waldron and STAR Teacher Orla Thomas (AP Chemistry teacher, Northgate High). Parents Doug and Sherry Waldron.
• Trinity Christian School STAR Student Joshua Lundregan and STAR Teacher Jennifer Rinkenberger (AP Calculus and Physics teacher, Trinity Christian). Parents John and Danna Lundregan.
The students’ STAR Teachers introduced their students at the Friday program. Richardson, who taught Schulz at Northside Elementary School in the school’s REACH program, described Schulz as “every teacher’s dream student,” and said his curious nature and strong academic potential shown through even as a young student.
Schulz is a Governor’s Honors student, a member of student government and the science olympiad team, and is Newnan High School’s 2016 Valedictorian, among many other honors and distinctions. He plans to study biochemical engineering after graduation. He said that Richardson “had more of an impact on me than any other teacher I could think of” during her five years as his gifted teacher.
Schulz will serve as Coweta County’s representative for regional STAR Student honors in Griffin, on March 10.
The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition Program (STAR) Program recognizes top academic students in Georgia high schools each year at the school, county, regional and state levels. To be named STAR, senior class 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.
The STAR Program is organized by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Georgia Department of Education. The Newnan Rotary Club hosts the local STAR program locally.
