Bryan County High School senior Lauren Sparks-Hoskins was recently named as the school’s STAR student for the class of 2013 for her shining performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
Hoskins’ score of 1760 helped her grab the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition honor, which goes to a high school senior who scores the highest on the SAT in one sitting. STAR students must also be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class based on grade point average.
Hoskins said she was excited about the announcement.
“It’s a really big honor and it feels really great to be set aside as an academic leader in my school,” Hoskins said.
Dr. Dawn Hadley, principal at BCHS, commended Hoskins’ success and described her as a leader.
“Lauren is super motivated — she has high expectations of her teachers, her peers and herself,” Hadley said in an email. “She is a leader in our school. She’s 25 years younger than me and I look up to her. I consider it a privilege to be part of her experience at BCHS and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for Lauren. She is going places.”
Hoskins said she plans to attend Valdosta State University on a pre-med track. Her goal after that is to go to medical school and become a physician’s assistant.
A duty the STAR student is assigned is to choose a STAR teacher who has motivated them along the way. Hoskins chose BCHS English and modern language arts teacher D’Lee Pollock-Moore.
“I had her for my freshman, sophomore and junior year and she was just really active in just every subject area,” Hoskins said of her teacher. “She really prepared us for the SAT and did a lot of SAT prep with us, and is just really active with our scholastic work.”
Hadley said Pollock-Moore is a blessing at BCHS.
“Mrs. Pollock-Moore is a phenomenal instructor for us,” she said. “She inspires her students to step out of their comfort zone. Her students know that she genuinely cares about them, and when you are able to establish meaningful relationships with students, you can convince them they are capable of more than they originally thought. We are blessed that she is part of our faculty.”
Pollock-Moore was also chosen as the STAR teacher for the school by 2012 STAR student Eric Morgan. She was unable to be reached for comment by presstime.
High school STAR students compete for system titles. The winner of the system title then competes for region honors in the 12 STAR regions throughout the state. Region winners and their STAR teachers are invited to Atlanta to compete for the state STAR scholarships and awards.
The Pembroke Lion’s Club sponsors the STAR student and teacher from BCHS each year and presents them with a certificate. Handing out the certificates this year was Lions Club member Bill Anderson.