Colquitt County High School announced the 2025 Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program recipients at a recent Kiwanis Club of Moultrie meeting. Caleb Schmit is the 2025 STAR Student, and Vance Hurst is the 2025 STAR Teacher. The local chapter of Kiwanis has graciously hosted the STAR Student/Teacher announcement annually for several years.
The STAR program honors Georgia's highest-achieving high school seniors and the teachers most instrumental in their academic development. Since its creation in 1958 by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the STAR program has honored more than 30,000 students. In the mid-1990s, the PAGE Foundation was asked to oversee, administer, and promote the statewide STAR program. Every accredited high school in Georgia is eligible to participate in this preeminent student/teacher academic recognition.
This year, Assistant Principal Kimberly Cooper had the privilege of introducing the recipients on behalf of the high school. She shared, "I have watched Caleb grow and excel on our campus over the past three years. His hard work and dedication are evident in his impressive achievement of one of the highest SAT scores in our school history." Caleb scored a 1530 on the SAT. He shared that he hopes to study physics and mathematics at Florida State University and one day be a physics researcher.
Caleb selected Vance Hurst as his STAR Teacher. He shared, “I'm truly honored to receive this award. It really means a lot to me, and I could not have done it without Mr. Hurst. He has encouraged me to grow and learn more than I ever thought I could. For the rest of my life, I will look back on my high school years with fond memories of him and his great personality and teaching style (he sets stuff on fire, dazzles you with equations, etc.); he is my role model, and without question the most deserving recipient of the STAR Teacher award.”
This is Mr. Hurst's third STAR Teacher recognition, and he was also a STAR Student in high school. Mr. Hurst shared that he has had the privilege of teaching Caleb in three different science classes during his high school career, an unusual occurrence in a school that size. He also stated, “He is a brilliant young man and an outstanding student in my physics class. He truly deserves this award, and I am beyond honored that Caleb has chosen me as the STAR Teacher.”
Caleb will move on to the Region STAR Banquet to see if he will be selected as a region winner and advance to state later in the year.