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Many smiles, laughs, and happy tears were shared during the 2025 STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) Breakfast at the Barrow Leisure Services Center on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025.
The STAR program honors Georgia's highest-achieving high school seniors and their most influential teachers. STAR recognition is given to seniors with the highest SAT scores and with grade point averages in the top 10 percent or top 10 of their class.
Created by the PAGE (Professional Association of Georgia Educators) Foundation, the STAR program unites educators with the business and the civic community to honor academic excellence. Thank you to the Barrow Chamber of Commerce, with the sponsorship of Beckett & Associates Investment Services and Peach State Federal Credit Union, for hosting the annual breakfast.
| Congratulations to our 2025 STAR Students and Teachers! | ||
| AHS | BASA | WBHS |
| Christopher Skyler Mack Mrs. Holly Behzadi |
Lucy Grace Bugg |
Alexander Liangyu Hou Mr. Cason Dowdy |
Apalachee High School STAR
Christopher Skyler Mack has been accepted to Georgia State's Biomedical Program and the University of North Georgia's Corps of Cadets. He has not decided yet. He says he chose Mrs. Holly Behzadi as his STAR Teacher because of the difference she made in his learning. Mrs. Behzadi shared how she appreciated Christopher's thoughtful questions and how he always kept wanting to learn more. Because Christopher had the highest SAT score of all the county STARs, he and Mrs. Behzadi will advance to the Regional STAR Student Awards.
Barrow Arts & Sciences Academy STAR
Lucy Grace Bugg is BASA's Valedictorian and will attend Augusta University to study Clinical Laboratory Science. She says she chose Mr. Jeffrey Lalaian as her STAR Teacher because she appreciates how he teaches in a clear and engaging manner while embracing humor and fostering a sense of community in the classroom. Mr. Lalaian shared how her name is now a part of speech in his household. "LucyBugg" is used as a noun, verb, and adjective whenever his family describes something exceptionally remarkable.
Winder-Barrow High School STAR
Alexander Liangyu Hou is a 4.0 student who plans to major in Engineering and is not decided on the college he will attend yet. He says he chose Mr. Cason Dowdy as his STAR Teacher because he's an amazing physics teacher and helped him academically. He added that because Mr. Dowdy is the "big nerd he is," he connected with him through similar interests in pop culture and video games which helped him break out of his shell. Mr. Dowdy says Alex is an inspiration and a joy to teach.