Three students from schools in Leflore and Carroll counties achieved the honor of STAR Student for the 2017-18 school year. STAR Students are selected on the basis of academic excellence. Both American College Test scores and scholastic averages are compared to determine the school’s STAR Student.
The STAR (Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition) Program is sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council and its M.B. Swayze Educational Foundation.
After receiving the honor, each STAR Student is asked to designate a teacher who has made the largest impact on his or her scholastic success to be named STAR Teacher.
The students and teachers recently attended the Mississippi Economic Council’s 2018 Education Celebration at the Jackson Convention Center.
This year’s local STARs are:
Dawson Clark, Pillow Academy
Charlie Staten and Dawson Clark
Dawson Cade Clark is the son of Jeff and Jenny Clark of Coila. The 17-year-old selected Charlie Staten as the STAR Teacher. This is Staten’s seventh time to receive the honor. Clark holds a 4.525 grade point average and scored a 32 on his ACT. Here’s some more information about Pillow Academy’s STAR Student:
Academic honors and awards: Principal’s and Headmaster’s lists throughout high school; Geometry Award; ACT Award; Mu Alpha Theta Math and Science Club, where he served as president; 2018 Greenwood Lions Club Youth Leadership Award; National Honor Society throughout high school; and was a member of the 2017 and 2018 homecoming courts.
Extracurricular activities: Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where he served as a leader senior year; Spanish Club; Pillow Academy Newspaper, serving as sports editor; Green and Gold Ambassadors; cast member of the Class of 2018’s senior play; attended FCA Leadership Camp; and was Greenwood Exchange Club’s Student of the Month.
Community service/involvement: Volunteer at the Leflore County Animal Shelter and Relay for Life; a bell ringer for The Salvation Army; attended Chrysalis Christian leadership retreats and served as a leader; attended a New York City Mission Trip, where he helped clean up in Coffey Park and volunteered at an adult day center; Student Connections at North Greenwood Baptist Church, where he is active in Sunday Night Bible Study, Disciple Now Weekend, Centrifuge Camp and is a Vacation Bible School organizer; participants in the Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Ministry; attended the Arlington Mission Trip, he helped organize and lead a backyard Bible school at low-income housing apartments; served as a community volunteer by assisting with grounds upkeep at a local elementary school one day each year; and helped organize a yearly backyard Bible school at the local Boys and Girls Club with Love God Love Greenwood.
Sports: Participated in basketball, track, soccer, football and tennis.
Interests/hobbies: Watching sports and hanging out with friends.
What college will you be attending in the fall? Mississippi College.
What do you plan to major in? Accounting.
What are your career goals? “Have a job that I love.”
Explain your decision to select Staten as STAR Teacher. “Math has always been my favorite subject in school, so I wanted to choose a math teacher. But the main reason for my selection is that Mr. Staten has been an outstanding teacher, helping me succeed in math, while showing his care for each student and the love of his job.”
After graduating, what will you miss most about high school? “I will miss the teachers and the faculty who have helped me succeed.”
What advice would you give to incoming freshmen about achieving success in high school? “I would advise them to give their best effort in everything they do, and that will help them be successful.”
Jaylin Smith, Greenwood High School
Jaylin Smith and Ja’Net K. Blackmon
Jaylin Renay Smith is the daughter of Angelia Smith and the granddaughter of Josephine Smith, both of Greenwood. The 18-year-old selected Ja’Net K. Blackmon as STAR Teacher. Smith holds a 4.5 grade point average and scored a 27 on her ACT. Here’s some more information about Greenwood High School’s STAR Student:
Academic honors, awards and scholarships: Superintendent’s List since ninth grade, 4-H state ambassador and Northwest Region vice president, 2017 Magnolia Girls state governor, first place in districtwide and regional science fair, Rotary Club Student of the Month, Leadership Award, YELL Leadership Impact Award, highest average on an athletic team, first-place winner in public speaking contest at 4-H Congress, English I, II, and III Awards, Geometry Award, World History Award, Biology Award, U.S. History Award, Dual Enrollment U.S. History Award, and U.S. Congressional Student of the Month.
Extracurricular activities: 4-H, International Economic Summit, National Beta Club, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Math and Science Club, Girls Who Code and DELTA Leadership Program.
Community service/involvement: Attends Jones Chapel Missionary Baptist Church No. 2, where she is an active Sunday School participant and lesson over viewer.
Sports: Participated in shot put during her sophomore and junior years.
Interests/hobbies: Public speaking, writing poetry, reading, motivating, playing sports, volunteering, debating, learning different languages, discovering history and traveling.
What college will you be attending in the fall? Tougaloo College.
What do you plan to major in? “I will major in mass communications and minor in computer science.”
What are your career goals? “I aspire to be a public relations director for a computer software company.”
Explain your decision to select Blackmon as STAR Teacher. “I chose Ms. Blackmon as my STAR Teacher, because she challenged me to be a better student both socially and academically. She disregarded the self-image I had for myself, and she pushed me to be a better, brighter Jaylin.”
After graduating, what will you miss most about high school? “I will miss Freddy knowing my lunch number before I say it. I will also miss the relationships and the bonds that I have made at Greenwood High School. I feel that I can receive an amazing education anywhere in the world, but the people who I have met and the lessons that I have learned are only available at Greenwood High School.”
What advice would you give to incoming freshmen about achieving success in high school? “I would tell incoming freshmen to forget all of the pre-conceived notions that they had about high school, because it is nothing like the movies. I would tell them to learn from the inevitable mistakes that they will make and enjoy the precious time that they have at Greenwood High School because it will not last forever.”
Graycen Wiltshire, Carroll Academy
Graycen Wiltshire and Brenda Pernell
Sara Graycen Wiltshire is the daughter of Brian Wiltshire of Greenwood and Mr. and Mrs. Zack Carpenter of Carrollton.
The 18-year-old selected Brenda Pernell, her sixth-grade teacher and eighth-grade Bible teacher, as Carroll Academy’s STAR Teacher. Wiltshire holds a 4.0 grade point average and scored a 27 on her ACT. Here’s some more information about Carroll Academy’s STAR Student:
Academic honors, awards and scholarships: Sumners Grant, Bledsoe Scholarship and Academic Excellence.
Extracurricular activities: Member of the Student Council since seventh grade, Student Body president and secretary of the Beta Club.
Community service/involvement: A member of Carrollton Baptist Church and served as the Christmas and Easter Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital event chair and as a volunteer to clean-up around Carrollton.
Sports: Co-captain of the Carroll Academy cheerleading team.
Interests/hobbies: “I enjoy doing makeup, working and modeling for Jaime Lynn’s boutique and reading.”
What college will you be attending in the fall? University of Mississippi.
What do you plan to major in? Pre-medicine
What are your career goals? “My goal is to study pre-med at the University of Mississippi and then continue on to medical school to become a dermatologist.”
Explain your decision to select Pernell as STAR Teacher. “Mrs. Pernell taught me how to get the most out of what was being taught in every class no matter the situation.”
What will you miss most about your high school? “My friends.”
What advice would you give to incoming freshmen about achieving success in high school? “Teachers can give you the information, but they cannot learn it for you. How much you learn is up to you.”
