STAR student Troy Colvard (right) and his STAR teacher, Amy Wheatley, with Chamber of Commerce President Blake Thompson. Troy Colvard has been chosen as the 2007 STAR Student for Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School, and he has chosen teacher Amy Wheatley as his STAR teacher.

"I was very excited, very pleased," Colvard said. "I'd worked for years to raise my SAT scores, and it was a nice surprise to get it."

The STAR student and teacher will be honored at an upcoming Chamber of Commerce breakfast, said Blake Thompson, President of the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce, which is the local sponsor of the program.

Thompson said, "We are very proud both of smart, hard-working students like Troy Colvard, and of teachers such as Amy Wheatley, who year after year inspire our brightest kids to achieve."

Colvard chose his Spanish teacher, Amy Wheatley, as his STAR teacher. "She's a phenomenal teacher, always dedicated to teaching us," he said. "For three years, I always looked forward to her classes."

Colvard was selected for the honor on the basis of his SAT scores, class standing, and scholastic averages, W-WCHS Principal Steve Echols said. In spring 2007, Colvard scored perfect scores on the Georgia High School Graduation Test Math and English sections, and scored perfect score on the writing section of the SAT.

Last summer, Colvard was chosen for the Governor's Honors Program, a six-week summer instructional program designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students challenging and enriching educational opportunities. Last fall, Colvard was named Commended Student in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program by placing among the top fivepercent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2008 competition by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/ NMSQT.)

"Troy is a very high achiever," Echols said, "a very involved student who is well-liked by his teachers."

He has been accepted by eight colleges so far, but Middlebury College in Vermont is his top choice, Colvard said. He is waiting to hear from them before he makes his decision.

A talented musician and seven year student of the keyboard, Colvard has won several times at the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) All-State Piano Auditions at Mercer University in Macon.

The Chamber will honor Colvard and Wheatley at an upcoming STAR Student and Teacher Recognition Ceremony and Quarterly Membership Meeting, with a date to be set soon.

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) Program was created to focus public attention on Georgia's outstanding students and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. During the past 49 years, the STAR Program has honored more than 20,000 high school seniors who have in turn chosen their STAR teachers to share in this recognition.

Later, Colvard and other system STAR students will go on to compete for region-wide honors in the STAR Regions. Region winners and their STAR teachers are invited to Atlanta to compete for the state STAR awards.