The Long County Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday held its annual Student Teacher Achievement Recognition ceremony at Coastal Manor Long Term Care Facility in Ludowici. Chamber member Elise Stafford welcomed the crowd of about 50, and Janet Watford presented the two awards. This year’s STAR student is Dalton Long, and the STAR teacher is Christi Crews.
According to Watford, Long has a sizable list of achievements. He is a Georgia Merit Scholar, a Governor’s Honors Participate, a Sons of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award recipient and a three-year member of the Long County High School student council. The young man, who tutors his peers in his spare time, also is a member of the yearbook staff and the math and science team.
Long’s college plans include majoring in English and minoring in theater and classical studies at either the University of Georgia or the University of Chicago. He hopes to become a college English professor.
Long, the son of Paul and Laura McGowan, said that he chose Crews as his STAR teacher for several reasons. During his senior year, he said, she was always there for him when he needed help.
“I can go to her when I need help, when I need to vent or even when I need a pep talk to finish the day out,” Long said.
Crews graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in political science and is working on her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction at NOVA Southeastern University. She has been teaching since 2005 and joined the Long County School System in 2006. She is the head of the social studies department and was this year’s Long County High School teacher of the year. Crews and her husband, Terry, have two children.
The STAR student and teacher awards are presented jointly by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and its local chapters, the Georgia Department of Education and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. More than 23,000 students have won the award, and the program is in its 55th year. In order to qualify for the honor, students must have the highest score in their class on a section of the SAT and have a grade point average that is in the top 10 percent of the class or be in the top 10 percent of the class for their total SAT score.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Waters, LCHS Principal Scotty Hattaway and Long County Board Education members Dempsey Golden, Florence Baggs and Linda DeLoach also attended the ceremony.