Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jenny Clarke presents awards to STAR Teacher Eric Holton and STAR Student Joel Fair as W-WCHS Assistant Principal Mark Ward looks on.The STAR student and his choice as STAR teacher will be honored at the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce annual dinner on Thursday evening, February 16.

Joel Fair, one of the top seniors at Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School, will be honored at the annual dinner along with Fair’s choice for his STAR teacher, Eric Holton.

In addition to honoring the STAR student and teacher, the chamber’s annual dinner will see awards given for Small Business of the Year, Big Business of the Year, Citizen of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year. Tickets are $20 in advance by February 10, or $25 at the door. Tickets are available at the chamber offices.

Fair, whose older brother Josh was the STAR student two years ago, earned the honor by having the highest SAT score in the school, along with being in the top 10 percent of the graduating class. “Joel has taken all the AP classes we offer,” said school counselor Don Bridges. “He’s already gotten seven college classes out of the way.”

After graduation in May, he said, Fair plans to join his brother Josh at North Georgia College. They are the sons of Bill and Tanya Fair of Washington. The family moved to Wilkes County five years ago from Ohio.

Fair’s choice of Holton, a veteran teacher in the school’s vocational and agricultural technology department, is unusual. “Joel, I can’t say how much I appreciate you choosing me,” Holton said. “It’s been a long time since a vocational teacher was picked as STAR teacher.”

Bridges confirmed that the last vocational education teacher chosen by the STAR student was Pug Nelms back in 1993.

Fair said that he chose Holton at least partly because vocational teachers never get picked. “He’s really helped me a lot with mechanical things like wiring and welding, but he also taught me about life and gave me good advice about preparing for school.”

Working with the local Chamber of Commerce, the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) Program was created by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators to focus public attention on Georgia’s outstanding students and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. Over the years, they have honored some 23,000 students and teachers.

Later, Fair 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.