Fourteen Students Named 2024 PAGE STAR Region 3A Winners

Fourteen students and their teachers have been selected as Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) Region 3A winners.

The announcement was made on March 12 by Jo Breedlove-Johnson, PAGE membership and college services representative, at a luncheon hosted by Georgia State University’s College of Education & Human Development (CEHD).

Region winners include:

• George Walton High School senior Pranaya Balaji and her STAR Teacher, Joe League
• Wheeler High School senior Katherine Carter and her STAR Teacher, Alissa Jean
• George Walton High School senior Andrew Fang and his STAR Teacher, Doug Wolfe
• Denmark High School senior Sebastian Flores and his STAR Teacher, Caitlen Stovall
• George Walton High School senior Omer Inan and his STAR Teacher, Tamara Hollingsworth
• Decatur High School senior Gordon Lichtstein and his STAR Teacher, Henry Tsay
• Gwinnett School of Math, Science and Technology senior Parv Mahajan and his STAR Teacher, Julia Rachkovskiy
• Wheeler High School senior Kyan Nguyen and his STAR Teacher, Paul Chance
• Creekview High School senior Kinley Sikes and her STAR Teacher, Jason Hardin
• Alliance Academy for Innovation senior Alexander Thomas and his STAR Teacher, Brad Davis
• North Gwinnett High School senior Jillian Vacha and her STAR Teacher, Andrea Boyce
• North Atlanta High School senior Jillian Yoder and her STAR Teacher, Elliott Reid
• South Forsyth High School senior Henry Yu and his STAR Teacher, Kent Ames
• Lambert High School senior Hudson Zhou and his STAR Teacher, Saru Bhardwaj

The PAGE Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program, in its 66th year, is sponsored, administered and promoted by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. Since its creation in 1958, the STAR program has honored nearly 29,500 students and the teachers selected as the most influential to their academic achievement. To obtain the 2024 STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on a single test date on the SAT and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class based on grade point average.

STAR begins each year in participating high schools throughout Georgia when the STAR Student is named and chooses a STAR Teacher to share in this recognition. The students and their teachers are honored by their schools and receive special recognition in their communities from one of the more than 170 statewide civic organizations and businesses that serve as local sponsors of the STAR program. Students then compete for school system titles, and those winners compete for region honors. Region winners compete for the honor of being named State PAGE STAR Student. STAR Teachers continue on with their STAR Students at every level of the program.

"We are very proud of these students and teachers and the academic excellence they exemplify," said Carla Tanguay, CEHD assistant dean for educator preparation and accreditation.

The Professional Association of Georgia Educators honors outstanding students and educators and encourages academic excellence through competitive academic initiatives such as PAGE STAR, the PAGE Academic Bowl for Middle Grades and the PAGE Georgia Academic Decathlon.