Northgate High School students Natalie Caylor and Spencer Thomas were announced as Coweta County’s 2018 STAR Students on Friday.

The two Northgate seniors – who had tied for their school’s honor as 2018 STAR Students – were jointly awarded the county-wide honor at the 2018 STAR Student program.  Thomas chose Northgate High School AP European History teacher Lawrence Burns as his STAR Teacher, and Caylor chose Arbor Springs Elementary School REACH teacher Bobbi Deling as her STAR Teacher.

The annual STAR program was hosted by the Newnan Rotary Club on Friday at the Newnan Country Club. STAR Students from East Coweta High School, the Heritage School, Newnan High School, Northgate High School, and Trinity Christian School were all honored at the event, along with their chosen STAR Teachers, parents and school representatives.

The Newnan Rotary Club serves as the local sponsor for the statewide STAR program, which recognizes top-achieving high school students each year.  The students’ STAR Teachers introduced their students at the Friday program, and were joined by parents, principals or school heads and other school representatives. This year’s STAR Students and Teachers from Coweta County’s five participating schools were:

East Coweta High School STAR Student Eunsoo “Jenny” Oh and STAR Teacher Matthew Joo (AP Calculus teacher, East Coweta High School).

The Heritage School STAR Student Mikhil Vijay Patel and STAR Teacher Gina Watkiss (Chemistry teacher, the Heritage School).

Newnan High School STAR Student Olivia Grace Helm and STAR Teacher Shirley Wold (AP Biology teacher, Newnan High School).

Northgate High School STAR Student Natalie Joy Caylor and STAR Teacher Bobbi Deling (REACH teacher, Arbor Springs Elementary School).

Northgate High School STAR Student Spencer Charles Thomas and STAR Teacher Lawrence Burns (AP European History teacher, Northgate High).

Trinity Christian School STAR Student Charles Alexander Seymour and STAR Teacher Kenny Dallas (Coach, Weight Training and Football, Trinity Christian School).

Caylor and Thomas will serve as Coweta’s representative for region 3B STAR Student honors on March 20, at a regional program held at the Nixon Centre for Performing and Visual Arts in Newnan.

Caylor is a National Merit Scholar Commended student, an AP Scholar with Distinction, a recipient of five All-State Chorus Golden Seals and her church’s Choir Director, among other distinctions.  She is currently choosing between the University of Utah and Loyola University Chicago to attend college, where she plans to study health care administration.  Her STAR Teacher, Bobbi Deling, taught her in her REACH (gifted) class beginning in 1st grade at Arbor Springs Elementary. “Although Natalie is clearly one of the brightest and highest achieving students, she is so much more.” said Deling. “I’d like to say I saw myself in Natalie. The reality is, I wish I could have been half as amazing as Natalie. The words I’ve chosen to describe Natalie are talented, determined, leader.”

Thomas is a National Merit Scholar Finalist and Northgate’s 2018 Valedictorian, among other accomplishments. He has chosen to attend Georgia Tech and plans to study chemical engineering.

“Spencer was the type of student that surface knowledge simply did not suffice,” said his Thomas’ STAR Teacher, Lawrence Burns. “He wanted to know the nuances behind why a particular historical event happened; not just that it took place. In addition, how might history have been impacted if a particular event had not taken place or turned out differently? Such an attribute makes for an ideal AP European History student and it was a joy to have him in class.”