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Rotary honors STAR students, teachers for 2015
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RMSST STAR Student Alex Norwood with STAR Teacher Coley Houseworth, who first taught Alex in fourth grade at Shoal Creek Elementary, Alex's parents and RMSST Principal Dr. Deborah Arnold.

The Rockdale and Conyers Rotary clubs honored the student in the top 10 percent of their grade with the highest SAT score from each high school and an influential teacher named by each of the students.

The STAR Students and Teachers for 2015 are:

Heritage High School - Elizabeth Caitlin Butler, AP Language aad Composition teacher Jennifer Howell

Salem High School - Jorge Castro, chemistry teacher Stephen Bare

Rockdale County High School - Kaegan Gregory, language and composition teacher Heidi Smith

Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology - Alex Norwood, Davis Middle science teacher Coley Houseworth, who as a new teacher taught Alex in fourth grade at Shoal Creek Elementary.

Norwood was named the Rockdale County STAR student and Houseworth the Rockdale County STAR Teacher for 2015. Being the STAR student runs in the family for Norwood, whose older sister Carson was named the STAR student for the Rockdale Magnet School last year.

The PAGE Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program, now in its 58th year, is sponsored by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) Foundation, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Education. Since its inception, the STAR program has honored more than 24,000 students and the teachers they have selected as having had the most influence on their academic success. To obtain the STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on a single test date on the three-part SAT and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class base 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 165 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.