The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the 60th annual Dougherty County Student Teacher Achievement Recognition luncheon, during which high-achieving high school seniors and their teachers were honored and during which the overall county STAR student was announced.

“The success of our community is directly tied to the success of our students. We’re proud of the significant achievements made by our public and private high school students and honored to be able to recognize them as STAR designees,” said Barbara Rivera Holmes, president and CEO of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.

To qualify for STAR competition, a student must have the highest score on a single test date on the three-part SAT and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of his or her graduating, class based on grade point average. The STAR teacher is selected by the declared high school STAR student for having made the most significant contribution to the STAR student's scholastic development. The Albany Area Chamber plays no role in determining the school STAR students nor the overall Dougherty County STAR student.

The 2018 STAR students and teachers are:

• Avry Fulford, Byne Christian School; teacher: Tonya Germany

• Aaroh Kalpesh Patel, Deerfield-Windsor School; teacher: Jake Clawson

• Carterion Lamon Whitlock, Dougherty Comprehensive High School; teacher: Matthew Peters

• Anthony George Eafford, Monroe Comprehensive High School; teacher: Suzanne Bridges

• Sidney Elleon Reid, Monroe Comprehensive High School; teacher: Subha Roy Vidyadharan

• Casey Gregors, Sherwood Christian Academy; teacher: Sabrina Davidson

• Dylan Wade Holland, Westover Comprehensive High School; teacher: Thomas Amos

At the luncheon, Aaroh Kalpesh Patel of Deerfield-Windsor School was announced as the 2018 Dougherty County STAR student. He will represent Dougherty County at the Region 9 STAR luncheon on March 28 at South Georgia Technical College in Americus.

For 60 years, the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce has sponsored the Dougherty County STAR student program, which was started by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce to focus public attention on Georgia's outstanding scholars and the teachers who help shape them.

Today, the STAR program is facilitated by the PAGE (Professional Association of Georgia Educators) Foundation.

The STAR program offers awards totaling more than $34,000 at the district and state levels of competition.