Last Friday, it was announced that 27 Starr’s Mill students will advance to the county level interviews for the Governor’s Honor Program.
“I think this is a fantastic showing for our school,” assistant principal Amy Evert said. “I’m hopeful that they’ll do really well at the district level and we’ll have a great number that make it to the state level.”
The Governor’s Honors Program is a summer program for sophomores and juniors that exhibit special talent or knowledge of a subject. Students that get through all trials are put into an all-expense-paid college-level class for four weeks on the subject they were nominated for. This year, classes will be held at Georgia Southern University from June 14 to July 11.
“I honestly think it’s refreshing, finally being able [to be] recognized for the work that I put in,” sophomore theatre nominee Liam Bell said. “Being able to express that is something that is really cool.”
Students are nominated by department chairs through department teachers in certain subject areas. Those nominations are sent to the county to be screened, and the county sends back which applicants are good to proceed to interviews. This year, the county-level interviews are scheduled for October 30.
“We’ve got them in such a variety of areas and subject matters that I think we have a good standing in the county,” Evert said.
This year, four sophomores and 23 juniors have been selected from Starr’s Mill. The number of unique subjects is 13, including mathematics, science, and world language. Overall, 214 students were nominated across all five Fayette County high schools, and 157 of them were able to proceed to interviews
After the interviews, students selected will be provided with an online application to the semifinals via email. After applications are reviewed, students will attend the semifinalist event on February 28 or March 14. Semifinalists selected as finalists will then be able to attend the summer program.