Evy Shen, who founded a new literary magazine, called Listen, for Statesboro High School, is now Bulloch County’s 2022 STAR student, after choosing Jennifer Calhoun, who serves as faculty sponsor for the magazine, as STAR teacher.

The Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education and the Rotary Club of Statesboro, as local sponsors of the annual Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program, saluted six STAR student and teacher pairs from five high schools in the county Wednesday. All of the STAR students are current 12th-graders with their schools’ highest scores from a single sitting on the SAT college admissions test.

Shen, who achieved a 1580 score out of a maximum possible 1600 on the SAT in the fall of her junior year, is the 17-year-old daughter of Georgia Southern University civil engineering Professor Junan Shen, Ph.D., and Min Zhu, who takes care of Evy and younger sister Erin, now an SHS ninth-grader.

They also have an older sister, Julie, who lives and works in California, the state where Evy Shen, who has also qualified as Statesboro High’s 2022 valedictorian, will be moving this fall to further her studies at prestigious Stanford University.

But Shen has not settled on a career yet.

“Career-wise I’m really keeping my options open, and even like major-wise, I’m not narrowing myself down to, like, one distinct major,” she said after Wednesday’s STAR presentations. “I’m really interested in a lot of things. I feel like at Stanford I’ll be able to explore more subjects and then hopefully I’ll know what to major in.”

Taking a similar approach to extracurricular activities in high school, she concentrated on STEM subjects – competing on the math team, for example – in ninth and 10th grades, and then took a literary turn. She recently won a first prize for 12th grade writers in the Young Georgia Authors competition and is preparing to compete in extemporaneous speaking.

Shen had done some online editing for two literary magazines when she decided that Statesboro High needed a literary magazine of its own and asked Calhoun to serve as its sponsor.

“It’s called Listen Magazine because we wanted to encourage our student population to be open-minded, and like, receptive to other people’s perspectives,” Shen said.

The first edition appeared in print and online fall semester, and Listen is planned as a twice-a-year publication. Meanwhile, Shen is also playing tennis for Statesboro High, as co-captain of the school’s team in the season that has just begun.

When Shen was in 10th grade, Calhoun was her teacher for a year-long class called Advanced Placement Language, Composition and American Literature.

“Ms. Calhoun has been like a really transformative figure in my life,” Shen said.  “I feel like in 10th grade I didn’t really know what I was doing, I was just drifting, kind of, and then she was just always so passionate about the things she was teaching, and it just really compelled me to the things she was talking about.”

Calhoun was a STAR teacher once before, when she previously taught in Screven County. She is in her 19th year teaching and her sixth or seventh at Statesboro High.

The school year Shen was in Calhoun’s AP Language class was the year the schools shut down for the final spring months because of COVID-19. Shen then joined Calhoun’s optional online class sessions for the remainder of the semester and still made an exceptional score on the AP test.

“And she’s just a wonderful human being, so when she approached me about doing the literary magazine, I was a hundred percent for it,” Calhoun said.  “Evy’s passion for writing is contagious, and she’s definitely sparked fire in other students, which has been wonderful to watch.”

Before the county-level winners were announced during the Rotary Club luncheon, all of the five schools’ STAR students and teachers were introduced called to the front.

Bulloch Academy

Because of a tie, Bulloch Academy has two sets of STARs.

Bulloch Academy STAR student Tressa Rountree, daughter of George and Anne Rountree, chose Pam Sapp as STAR teacher. Rountree has been accepted, by early decision, to the University of Georgia, where she plans to major in economics and follow the pre-law track.

Sapp, currently an English language arts and history teacher at Bulloch Academy, was one of Rountree’s teachers throughout the middle school grades, from science in sixth grade to Georgia History in eighth grade.

Bulloch Academy STAR student Wesley Joyce, son of Richard and Shelly Joyce, has been accepted to the University of Georgia but is also considering other schools, possibly to pursue a degree in civil engineering. He chose Beth Burke, a Bulloch Academy upper school math teacher, as STAR teacher.

Burke has taught Sapp for two years, both in Pre-Calculus and AP Calculus.

Portal High School

Portal Middle High School’s STAR student is Jenna Goodson, who chose Clinton Thornburg as STAR teacher.

Goodson, daughter of Lisa Schatzel Curl, plans to attend Mercer University and major in nursing with a minor in Spanish. Her goal is to become a pediatric nurse practitioner.

Thornburg is a science teacher at Portal Middle High, where Goodson has been a student in his Honors Biology, Chemistry and Human Anatomy/Physiology courses.

Southeast Bulloch High

Southeast Bulloch High School STAR student Katlyn Brantley, daughter of Floyd and Kimberly Brantley, chose her mother as her STAR teacher. Dr. Kim Brantley, now a teacher of second graders at Nevils Elementary, was one of Katlyn’s teachers when she was in fourth grade.

Katlyn Brantley, who will also be valedictorian of Southeast Bulloch’s 2022 graduating class, has been accepted to Augusta University, where she plans to major in molecular biology. She hopes to be accepted to the Dental College of Georgia, also at Augusta University, after her undergraduate studies are completed.

Trinity Christian School

Trinity Christian School’s STAR student Mary Genevieve Williams, known as Mary Gen, daughter of Mike and Rita Williams, is also the salutatorian of her senior class. She hopes to attend the University of Georgia but has been accepted by Georgia College & State University and has also applied to Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern.  She is exploring majors in the medical field and mathematics and also considering pharmacy or nursing school.

Williams chose Donna McKenna as the school’s STAR teacher for 2022. This is the sixth time that McKenna, who teaches AP Calculus and AP Physics at Trinity Christian, has been named a STAR teacher.

Statewide, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, or PAGE, Foundation sponsors the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program, now in its 64th year. In addition to having highest SAT scores, STAR students must rank among the top 10% or top 10 students of their class based on grade point averages at the end of the junior year.

Shen and Calhoun will represent Bulloch County in the Region 8 STAR banquet sponsored by the Statesboro Exchange Club, March 16 at Georgia Southern. A statewide STAR student and teacher will be chosen from the winners from 11 regions and announced at the state banquet in Atlanta on April 25.

Hayley Greene, public relations director for the Bulloch County Schools, served as emcee for the local STAR presentation and provided biographical information on the students and teachers.