A lost delivery resulted in a missed opportunity for one Liberty County High School student, but she is still headed for a bright future.
2010 graduate Shanté Barnes earned a 1900 on her overall SAT in June 2009, prior to starting her senior year, with a 1310 combined math and critical reading score. Barnes’ mother, Alexandra Fisher, said those numbers and her No. 14 class ranking should have made her the school’s nominee for the statewide STAR program award this past spring.
The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program honors Georgia’s outstanding high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. To obtain a STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on the three-part SAT taken through the November test date of their senior year and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class based on grade point average.
Somehow, though, her school never received Barnes’ SAT results, so the school nominated the senior with the highest score it had on record. When Fisher told the school of the error, she said Principal Paula Scott awarded her daughter the same amount of scholarship money and the same gift that the nominee received, but would not agree to make a formal announcement.
“She feels [the nominee] would be embarrassed” if such an announcement were made, Fisher said. “I questioned her about the Wall of Fame that LCHS has, where all the STAR Students have a picture hanging up. She told me that both of their pictures would be going up, which to me isn’t right since he isn’t the actual STAR student.”
Scott did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Regardless of the outcome, Barnes has definite plans for a successful future. Fisher said her daughter will attend Florida State University in Tallahassee to major in psychology with a minor in criminology.
2010 graduate Shanté Barnes earned a 1900 on her overall SAT in June 2009, prior to starting her senior year, with a 1310 combined math and critical reading score. Barnes’ mother, Alexandra Fisher, said those numbers and her No. 14 class ranking should have made her the school’s nominee for the statewide STAR program award this past spring.
The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program honors Georgia’s outstanding high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. To obtain a STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on the three-part SAT taken through the November test date of their senior year and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class based on grade point average.
Somehow, though, her school never received Barnes’ SAT results, so the school nominated the senior with the highest score it had on record. When Fisher told the school of the error, she said Principal Paula Scott awarded her daughter the same amount of scholarship money and the same gift that the nominee received, but would not agree to make a formal announcement.
“She feels [the nominee] would be embarrassed” if such an announcement were made, Fisher said. “I questioned her about the Wall of Fame that LCHS has, where all the STAR Students have a picture hanging up. She told me that both of their pictures would be going up, which to me isn’t right since he isn’t the actual STAR student.”
Scott did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Regardless of the outcome, Barnes has definite plans for a successful future. Fisher said her daughter will attend Florida State University in Tallahassee to major in psychology with a minor in criminology.
