BCA Wins Barrow County System STAR Student of the Year Award

Each year, Barrow County’s STAR Student of the Year is announced at the annual Chamber of Commerce Dinner at Chateau Elan.  The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program honors Georgia's outstanding high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. During the past 55 years, the STAR Program has honored more than 23,500 high school seniors who have in turn chosen their STAR Teachers to share in this recognition.

Every accredited high school in Georgia is eligible to participate in the STAR program. To obtain the STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on one test date 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.

This year, for the first time, there were three Barrow County high schools present on the stage, as Bethlehem Christian Academy Head of School Rhonda Whiting joined Dr. Wanda Creel, Barrow County Superintendent of Schools, representing Appalachee and Winder Barrow.

Not only did BCA join the competition; it captured the title of Barrow County STAR Student of the Year in the school’s first year of participation.

Barrow County’s STAR Senior of the Year for 2013-14 is Bethlehem Christian Academy senior Jonathan Michael Dispain.  Jonathan is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Greg and Debbie Dispain and grandson of Ruth Ann Foil and James and Melba Dispain. 

Not only has Jonathan maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout his high school career, but he’s done so while taking a long list of Advanced Placement and honors courses.  Jonathan also competed in high school sports and is an accomplished musician.  He leads his church worship band, alternating between bass, acoustic, and lead guitar.  He also plays keyboard and is learning to play the banjo.  Jonathan has participated in drama, chorus, and is a member of the National Honor Society.

Even as a young person, Jonathan has already begun giving back into the local and global communities.  He has served as a teen volunteer at Athens Regional Medical Center, has volunteered at a local soup kitchen and food pantry, and has traveled to Peru where he participated in construction projects and Vacation Bible School for local children. 

Jonathan has been has been accepted to the University of Georgia, where he has been invited into the highly esteemed Honors Program.  He plans to pursue a degree in finance.

Jonathan chose Mrs. Abby Rutledge as his STAR teacher.  Mrs. Rutledge holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences’ Education from the University of Georgia, where she earned Dean’s and President’s List honors.  Rutledge serves as Social Studies Department Chair at BCA. Says Rutledge, “One of best characteristics I have seen in Jonathan is his confidence in knowing who he is and what he has to say. Confidence combined with Jonathan's God-given abilities and intellect truly set him apart.  Jonathan not only exemplifies the Christian leadership and academic rigor that we want BCA graduates to exemplify, but these are the same characteristics that will benefit Jonathan the most once he leaves BCA to encounter all future endeavors.”

According to Jonathan, “I chose Mrs. Rutledge as my STAR teacher because she does a wonderful job of pulling everybody into the material and making sure that we not only learn about the subject, but that we know and understand the material.  Before I was in Mrs. Rutledge's government class, I was generally uninterested in politics and government processes, but now I enjoy discussing the subject of politics. I also have a much firmer grasp of how our federal government operates.  Mrs. Rutledge is down to earth and works very hard for our class. She is thorough and disciplined and obviously cares about both what she is teaching and who she is teaching.”