All stories by Hayley Greene
Special to the Herald
Bulloch Academy: Lillie Sumner
Lillie Sumner, 18, is the daughter of Phil and Hope Sumner of Statesboro. She is Bulloch Academy’s 2021 valedictorian.
“I’ve been thinking about being valedictorian since I knew what the word meant,” Lillie said.
She received the highest grade point average awards in her schools for fifth, eighth, 10th, 11th and 12th grades.
“My parents are thrilled for me to be valedictorian, and happy for me that I achieved my goal. People assumed they pushed me, but it was me pushing myself.”
Lillie plans to attend Georgia Southern University and major in Chemistry. After applying for the university’s 1906 scholarship, she also applied for and was accepted into its Honors College.
“My older sister went to the University of Georgia, and I could have too, but I consciously made a decision to stay here and remain close to my grandparents, Jimmy and Theresa Sumner and Virginia Goodwin. My grandpa is the smartest man I’ve ever met. He was the first in his family to go to college. He was a social worker. He met Martin Luther King Jr. I just really look up to him.”
As part of GSU’s Honors College, Lillie will join a community of scholars in the Honors dormitory. She will be able to develop intellectually and professionally by conducting undergraduate research, and the program also provides creative scholarship, experiential learning, global engagement and personalized mentorship.
This fits well with her desire to pursue a career in the sciences. She’s considering obstetrics and gynecology, pharmacy or emergency medicine.
“I’ve kind of liked all my classes at BA, but especially Chemistry and Anatomy,” Lillie said.
She began working at McCook’s Pharmacy in Statesboro, last July. She credits this experience with sparking her interest in science careers.
“I didn’t even consider STEM fields until I started working at McCook’s. It’s given me hands-on application of science lessons I’ve learned in high school. I hope to stay on there.”
Lillie is the recipient of this year’s Bulloch Academy Trustees Award, which is given each year to an elementary, middle and high school student, who each have the highest grade point average for the school year. She was also a Governor’s Honors Program state finalist in 2019, for the field of Communicative Arts, and she is her school’s 2021 STAR student.
Lillie represented Bulloch Academy in the Bulloch County STAR competition where a local winner is selected from amongst the county’s five participating public and private high schools.
STAR is a Professional Association of Georgia Educators Foundation program. It recognizes students at the school, county, region and state levels who score the highest score on any single administration of the SAT. STARS must also attain a score that is equal to or higher than the SAT’s national average of scores for both its math and reading/writing sections, and at the end of the junior year of high school, STARs must be in either the top 10 percent or be among the top 10 students in their graduating class whichever category provides the largest number of eligible students.
Each STAR student also selects a STAR teacher who has impacted their life. Lillie selected Courtney Burnette, her English teacher and cheerleading coach. In a statement that Lillie prepared for the local STAR competition she shared how Burnette had impacted her life.
“She is the reason that I love to come to school. She's been a recommender of books and a suggester of songs since I was a sophomore. She has never stopped encouraging and believing in me and has always pushed me to be the very best I could be, in and out of the classroom,” she said.
Burnette was honored to be selected as Lillie’s STAR teacher. She first came to know Lillie as her middle school cheerleading coach, and then she was her English teacher for three years beginning in 10th grade.
“I can genuinely say that every minute has been a joy,” Burnette said. “Lillie is the rare student that just blows you away every day with her insight, her eloquent writing, and her maturity. It means so much to me that she valued her time in my class as much as I loved having her there,” she said.
Lillie has enjoyed her years at Bulloch Academy. She feels like it’s a close knit family.
“None of us go through things alone,” she said. “We have shared experiences. I will miss my friends as we each go our separate ways.”
STEAM: Jelayma McCollum
Jelayla McCollum, 17, is the daughter of Jemal and Shayla McCollum of Bulloch County. She is the valedictorian of the Statesboro STEAM College, Careers, Arts and Technology Academy, which is a public, state charter school for grades six-12.
“I was very surprised to be named valedictorian,” Jelaya said. “I have some really smart classmates. My parents are very proud of me. I think they’re more excited than I am.”
Jelayla’s father works for Planters EMC in Jenkins County, which has a college scholarship program for children of employees. She was the recipient of the company’s $1,000 scholarship this year.
Jelayla has attended Statesboro STEAM since she was in the eighth grade. This year, due to COVID-19, she’s primarily been a virtual student, but it’s a style of learning with which she’s become very adept.
“It’s fulfilling for me,” Jelayla said. “I’ve been taking dual-enrolled classes at Ogeechee Technical College since I was in the ninth grade. I enjoy it because I can get things done as soon as I get them. It’s self-paced, and I am better able to plan around my classes.”
She began completing her course work toward an associate’s degree from OTC when she was only 15 years old. She’s completed her core classes, but she’s undecided on a major.
“I’m still weighing my options. When I finish, I’d like to go to Kennesaw State or Duke,,” she said.
“Layla is an awesome young lady,” said Dunnum. “She is a very smart, talented, confident and hardworking student. Layla is always willing to help others and goes above and beyond on everything she does. I expect great things out of this young lady because her parents did an awesome job raising her.”
“She is a hard worker,” said Dobbs. “She is determined, and she has a high drive to succeed. I'm very proud of her and wish her the very best in her future.”
Jelayla admits that she’s a morning person, who likes to wake up early and get her high school and college course work done. This helps her make time for a part-time job. She’s part of the staff at Krispy Kreme.
When asked what advice she’d give to underclassmen who may also aspire to be valedictorian one day, Jelayla had this advice.
“Have fun, but not too much fun. It’s important not to procrastinate. You really have to stay up to date with your course work.”
Jelayla still made time for sports like softball and basketball. She’s on her school’s basketball team, and a member of Beta Club, but she admits her favorite activity is reading.
“I read a lot! As long as it looks interesting, I’ll read it,” she said.
She wants to give a “huge shout-out” to her Beta Club adviser, Tammy DeLoach for the opportunities that she provided for the club.
“Jelayla is an amazing young woman,” said DeLoach. “She graduated early, so I’m a little disappointed that I’ll miss a year with her, but excited to see what her future holds. She put in many hours of community and school service, and she worked diligently to maintain a high GPA.”
Jelayla and DeLoach both fondly remember the Beta Club’s trip to New York City during winter break where they were surprised with an entire day of snow.
“I’ll never forget her and her friends having a snowball fight in Central Park,” said DeLoach, who also shared a prediction about Jelayla’s future success.
“This young lady is one to watch for. I know we will see big things from her.”
Trinity Christian: Kate Lattner
Kate Lattner, 18, is the valedictorian of Trinity Christian School’s Class of 2021. She’s the daughter of David and Lori Lattner of Statesboro.
The youngest of the family, she has three older brothers: Will and twin brothers, Ben and Seth, who are seniors at the University of Georgia. Will was also valedictorian of his graduating class at Trinity, and Ben was salutatorian, behind his wife, Jackie Lee Lattner.
Kate also plans to attend the University of Georgia and major in Communication Sciences and Disorders. A degree program within the University’s Mary Frances Early College of Education, it prepares students for future graduate degrees in speech pathology, speech therapy and other related fields.
“My vision at the moment is to become a speech therapist,” Kate said. “I’ll complete the undergraduate degree and then attend graduate school to become a therapist. I originally wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, but I began volunteering with our school’s speech therapist and helping a younger student.”
The volunteer experience led Kate to realize that she really enjoyed working one-one-one with children. She also likes the idea of being able to move along with children and stay connected to their learning as they advance in grade levels. She’s gained additional experience by job shadowing speech professionals at The Therapy Spot in Statesboro.
Kate has attended Trinity since kindergarten. She’s enjoyed attending school in one, small-school environment where her mother is the school secretary, and her father is the headmaster.
“It was nice, especially because I could get them to sign things for me if I forgot. It also gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the school and made me more appreciate what goes into running a school,” she said.
There are just seven students in Kate’s graduating class, most of whom she’s been with since kindergarten.
Kate is looking forward to football Saturdays in Athens, and being part of faith-based organizations on campus, like the Reformed University Fellowship, which is a student campus ministry affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America that serves 172 campuses worldwide.
While at Trinity, Kate has been active in the school’s math, cross country and soccer teams. She was also named as the school’s STAR student. She represented Trinity in the Bulloch County STAR competition where a local winner is selected from amongst the county’s five participating public and private high schools.
Sponsored at the state level by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators Foundation, STAR recognizes students at the school, county, region and state levels who score the highest score on any single administration of College Board’s Scholastic Aptitude Test , have a score that is equal to or higher than the SAT’s national average of scores for both its math and reading/writing sections, and at the end of the junior year of high school, be in either the top 10 percent or be among the top 10 students in their graduating class whichever category provides the largest number of eligible students.
Each STAR student also selects a STAR teacher, which is an educator from any level of their school career whom they believe was an academic or personal mentor. Kate selected Donna McKenna.
“She is the smartest woman I know,” Kate said during remarks prepared for the local STAR competition. “During her time at Trinity, she has taught me geometry, honors chemistry, Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry, AP calculus and AP physics. The classes she teaches give insight into how talented she is, but there is so much more than that. Mrs. McKenna is truly a Renaissance woman: she's written cookbooks, hiked sections of the Appalachian Trail, owns a farm, and is capable of anything she puts her mind to. I am so grateful that I've had the opportunity to be her student and would be honored to become even half of the woman she is.”
In her prepared remarks for Bulloch County’s STAR event, McKenna said, “I have known Kate and her family since she was born. She is a diligent student and takes the most challenging classes our school has to offer. She also likes math and math-related science, so since I share that trait and teach the AP math and sciences, we have a bond. I love teaching her these subjects and she excelled in them.”