On May 2, Starr’s Mill students and teachers gathered at the Willie Duke Auditorium to participate in the annual Honor’s Night. Here, the best and the brightest of the Mill were awarded by the school, universities, and the community for their dedication to their academics as well as their extracurricular achievements.

The evening began with the awarding of local scholarships to current seniors. Local organizations designated an essay prompt for seniors to write, and the winners were awarded the scholarship money. The organizations include Clothes Less Traveled, Coweta-Fayette EMC, Key Club, Peachtree City Optimist Club, Peachtree City Running Club, World Gym, National BETA Club, Panther Athletic Booster Club, PAGE and the Parent-Teacher-Student Organization. Senior Maddie Beatty was awarded the $1500 Sam Sweat Honorary Scholarship by the PTSO. “It was incredible,” Beatty said. “I did not think I was going to beat out several other seniors, so when they started quoting my essay I was stunned.”

This year, the prompt for the PTSO scholarships required  seniors to choose their most influential teacher and write about the effect these teachers had on them. Beatty chose to write about biology teacher Kelly Rock. “Mrs. Rock really encouraged me to pursue and be curious about biology, and for that I am so grateful,” Beatty said. “She was one of my favorite teachers of my high school career.”

College scholarships were also awarded to seniors by their respective universities. University of Alabama, Auburn University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Mississippi State University sent representatives to award the university-based scholarships. “I was very excited receiving a scholarship from Mississippi State,” senior Jamie Richards said. “I got a scholarship and the amount before, but being recognized for it at Honor’s Night made me feel like my decision of going to Mississippi State was official.”

In addition, seniors who are pursuing careers involving the military in college were awarded ROTC or appointment scholarships. Senior Shannon Mudrinich received an Air Force ROTC scholarship. She was also offered an appointment to West Point and an Army ROTC scholarship, but decided to participate in the Air Force ROTC because she felt it was the best fit for her. “The primary reason I am participating in this program is because I want to become an Air Force officer. I have always loved serving, leading, and helping others. It’s also really special being a part of something bigger than yourself,” Mudrinich said. “I am really looking forward to challenging myself and developing my character and leadership skills in the ROTC. It is going to be a great adventure.”

After senior scholarships were presented, special recognition awards were given to students who present traits of leadership and character. Specifically, the AJC Cup Award, the Mowell Cup, the Kroc Youth Achievement Award and the Superintendent’s Award are special recognition awards presented annually to four seniors.  “These are traditional awards in the county and have been presented each year since Starr’s Mill opened,” counselor Paula O’Shields said.

This year, Dhruva Jandhyala won the AJC Cup Award, Dominique Dawson won the Mowell Cup and Jimbo Alldredge received the Ray Kroc Youth Achievement Award. The winner of the Superintendent’s Award is announced at graduation.  The recipients of these four awards are determined by the faculty at the Mill. “The ballots are distributed to the teachers, and the teacher submit the names of the students they think are most appropriate for the award,” O’Shields said. “Then, once a shorted list for each award is gathered, the faculty then votes again to see which one student should be awarded each of the awards.”

The faculty also selected their most outstanding student for every class offered at Starr’s Mill to receive the Department Awards. The head of every department announced the winners of these awards at Honor’s Night. The recipients included:

Career / Technology

Outstanding FACS/FCCLA Student: Alyssa Loesch

Outstanding Healthcare Science Student: Lexy Weaver

Outstanding Yearbook students: Alania Davanzo, Kimmy Girolami, Miguel Gonzalez,

    Kenna McKenzie, Natalie Wilson

English / Journalism

Outstanding Reading student: Santiago Espinosa

Outstanding Freshman College Prep English Student: Jacob Just-Buddy

Outstanding Freshman Gifted English Student: Brady Meyer

Outstanding Sophomore College Prep English Student: Mia Henriksen

Outstanding Sophomore Gifted English Student: Ryan Ragsdale

Outstanding Junior College Prep English Student: Liam O’Connell

Outstanding Junior AP English Student: Yuri-Grace Ohashi

Outstanding Senior College Prep English Student:  Kelly Wildermuth

Outstanding AP Literature Student: Erin Carpenter

Outstanding Introductory Creative Writing Student: Madison Martin

Outstanding Advanced Creative Writing Student: Dana Gould

Musings Editor-in-Chief: Walker Allen and Morgan Prillaman

The Prowler Editor-in-Chief: Erin Schilling

Fine Arts

Outstanding Freshman Art Student: Qi Ru Lin

Outstanding Sophomore Art Student: Valerie Benavides

Outstanding Junior Art Student: Maddison Laney

Outstanding Senior Art Student: Victoria Alvarez

Outstanding Senior Chorus Student: Kelly Wildermuth

Outstanding AP Art History: Bryce Smith

World Languages

Outstanding Spanish I Student: Providence Blalock

Outstanding Spanish II Student: Tim Hahn

Outstanding Spanish III Student: Mary Katherine Adcox

Outstanding Spanish IV Student: Angela Ricketts

Outstanding AP Spanish Student: Jimbo Alldredge

Premio de Honor (AATSP): Faith Terry

Outstanding French I Student: Samuel Navarro Michel

Outstanding French II Student: John Snitzer

Outstanding French III Student: Madeleine Childress

Outstanding French IV Student: Kenna McKenzie

Outstanding German I Student: Brian Dixon

Outstanding German II Student: Kayla Christ

Outstanding German III Student: Madison Hagen

Outstanding German IV Student: Logan Smith

American Sign Language Year I: Ira Krista Collendrino

American Sign Language Year II: David Martin

Mathematics

Outstanding Algebra Student: Shelby Thomsen

Outstanding Analytic Geometry Student: Reese Camarata

Outstanding Advanced Algebra Student: Jillian Ruvalcaba

Outstanding Accelerated Algebra/Geometry Student: Brandon Lemmons

Outstanding Accelerated Analytic Geometry/ Advanced Algebra Student: Ore Amosu

Outstanding Accelerated Precalculus Student: J.C. Talbott

Outstanding AP Statistics Student: Conner Holt

Outstanding AP Calculus Student: Joshua Tysor

PE / Health

Outstanding Female Physical Education Student: Zemmie L. Seger

Outstanding Male Physical Education Student: James Michael Burnett, Jr.

Science

Outstanding Biology Student: Ty Duben

Outstanding Gifted Biology Student: Ally Marshall and Naomi Valeich

Outstanding AP Biology Student: Derek Camacho

Outstanding Chemistry Student: Erin Rathje

Outstanding Gifted Chemistry Student: Conner Holt

Outstanding AP Chemistry Student: Maddie Beatty

Outstanding Earth Systems Student: Tommy Pruitt

Outstanding Environmental Science Student: Katie Shockley

Outstanding Forensics Student: Alexis Halm

Outstanding AP Environmental Science Student: Michaela Cushing

Outstanding Anatomy and Physiology Student: Hannah Fertig

Outstanding Physics Student: Tristan Goolsby

Outstanding AP Physics I Student: Allie Fisher

Outstanding AP Physics C Student: Rickey Macke

Social Studies

Outstanding World History Student: Matthew Hargrove

Outstanding AP World History Students: Ian Darling and Marleena Tamminen

Outstanding US History Student: Justin Paul Allen

Outstanding Government Student: Erin Carpenter

Outstanding Economics Student: Andrea Rathje

Outstanding AP European History Students: Erin Carpenter and Kacey Yonkovitz

Outstanding AP Government Students: Maria Curry and Yuri-Grace Ohashi

Outstanding AP Macroeconomics Student: Morgan Knowlton

Outstanding AP Human Geography Student: Blythe Terry

Outstanding AP Psychology Student: Christina Hubeli

Outstanding AP US History Students: Angela Ricketts and Jillian Ruvalcaba