Bulloch County’s STAR student has tied for the Region 8 STAR title, an announcement that was made on March 12, during the annual banquet in Statesboro for the 16-county area.
Eli Compton, a senior at Statesboro High School, and Emiline Baxter, a senior at Savannah Country Day, STAR students for their respective counties – Bulloch and Chatham – will advance to represent Region 8 at the Georgia STAR Banquet on Monday, April 29, at 6:30 p.m., at the Sonesta Gwinnett Place Atlanta in Duluth.
The pair, along with their STAR teachers, were selected from 16 county’s STARs based on the two students achieving the highest score on the College Board’s Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). In addition to achieving the same top score on the SAT, the two also have the same major, aerospace engineering, and both will attend the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The Statesboro Exchange Club hosts the Region 8 event, which is held annually in the atrium of the College of Engineering and Information Technology on the campus of Georgia Southern University. STAR students and teachers from Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Liberty, Long, Montgomery, Screven, Tattnall, Treutlen, Toombs, Vidalia City and Wheeler County were recognized along with parents, school administrators, and counselors in attendance.
Compton is the son of Matthew Compton, Ph.D., a sociology and anthropology professor at Georgia Southern University, and Stephanie Compton, principal of Julia P. Bryant Elementary School. He was named Bulloch County’s STAR student on January 31, at the local Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) luncheon for the county’s five public and private high schools. That event was held at Forest Heights Country Club and sponsored by the Rotary Club of Statesboro and the Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education.
Compton chose Ashley Thompson, his Honors and Advanced Placement Chemistry teacher, as his STAR teacher. He plans to pursue a career in the space industry designing vehicles for autonomous and manned missions into space.
“Human space exploration has long captured my imagination from historical triumphs to an endless array of future possibilities,” Compton said in his prepared comments for the local level event. “This fascination motivated my choice of major. Mrs. Thompson was my teacher for both Honors and AP Chemistry and both courses were some of my favorites in high school. She taught the material in a fun and engaging manner, making her class one of the highlights of my school day. I picked Mrs. Thompson as my STAR Teacher for these factors along with the enumerable others that make her an outstanding teacher.”
Thompson noted that Eli is one of the finest students with whom she has worked.
“His enthusiasm and desire to learn, especially chemistry, were evident from the first day I met Eli,” she said. “Eli is a careful thinker with an eye for details and a devotion to logic, which serves him well both in the sciences and outside of them. Eli is every science teacher’s dream. He looks past the surface to dig deep into the amazing, incredible world of science! Both thorough and inquisitive, Eli has sought to do his very best in school and outside of school. Eli and I both have a passion for chemistry. Being named Eli’s STAR Teacher is definitely the greatest honor in all of my teaching career. To be selected by a student for this award is something that I will cherish forever.”
