Brookwood Teacher, Student Garner Honors

A student and teacher were selected as the school district's top team in the annual STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) awards luncheon Wednesday.

Senior Akshaya Suresh and her selected STAR Teacher Dana Kling were recognized as the county’s winners, selected from a pool of honorees from every high school in Gwinnett County Public Schools, as well as private schools. A top student from Buford City Schools was also recognized.

Each STAR student is the senior in the top 10 percent of his or her class who also received the highest SAT score. The STAR teachers were selected by each student as the educator who had a strong, academic influence.

Suresh’s received a perfect score on the SAT, and Kling taught Suresh in a gifted language arts class last year.

As GCPS’ STAR student, Suresh moves to region's competition, where she and her STAR teacher will compete for the regional title. In the spring, regional winners will compete Georgia’s 2011 STAR Student and Teacher honor.

The state STAR program is sponsored by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and the state Department of Education. Locally, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce hosts the luncheon honoring the selected students and teachers.