2026 STAR Student and STAR Teacher—Schley County High School
Mary Grace Arrington has been selected as Schley County’s STAR Student, and she has selected Mr. Brent Moore as her STAR Teacher. The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program honors Georgia’s highest achieving high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in the academic development. Every accredited high school in Georgia is eligible to participate in this recognition. To obtain the STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on any single test date of the 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. As Schley County’s STAR student, Gracie will compete for region-wide honors, to be held in Columbus. Region winners and their teachers are invited to Atlanta to compete for the state PAGE scholarships and awards.
Gracie is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Arrington of Ellaville. She plans to attend Georgia Tech in the Fall and major in business and finance. She and Coach. Moore have known each other for the last four years. Gracie has played on Coach Moore’s SCHS basketball team, and she was recently in his Human Anatomy and Physiology class. He has taught her that perfectionism should not get in the way of doing things in life that you love and that no one should “treat life as an obligation.” When anyone asks him, “How are you?” his response is always, “Living the dream!”
Coach Moore says Gracie’s “curiosity and willingness to ask questions” is what he appreciates most about her. Her questions, he says, “spark classroom discussions that often become the focus of the entire lecture or even future assignments.” He also values her leadership on their basketball team, where she was voted “Best Teammate” by her peers. “Every team or classroom needs a Gracie,” Coach Moore said, and he is grateful to have been part of her life, even for this short time.