Senior Sam Watters was named Darlington’s 2011 STAR Student and he chose Beth Wilson, chairwoman of the English department, as his STAR Teacher. The awards were presented by Claudia Miller on behalf of the the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce.

The STAR Student is the senior who scores highest on the SAT during a single-day attempt and is also in the top 10 percent of their class based on grade point average.

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program, in its 53rd year, is sponsored by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators Foundation, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Education.

Watters, a National Merit Scholarship program Commended Student and an AP Scholar with Distinction, is a member of the Cum Laude Society, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Gamma Chi Epsilon, Spanish National Honor Society and French National Honor Society.

He is president and founder of the Darlington chapter of Junior State of America and director of dominions of the Junior State of America in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. He is also a member of The Inkslinger staff, the debate team, the Green Team and serves as spiritual life liaison in Summerbell House.

In his four years at Darlington, Watters has received numerous awards and honors, including the Phi Beta Kappa Book Award, the Yale Book Award, the D.A.R. Medal and the 2010 Georgia Certificate of Merit from The University of Georgia. He has also earned E.L. Wright Scholastic Awards for having the highest average in AP world history, AP environmental science, English 2, Spanish 4, French 1 and 2 Honors and graphic design.

The son of Tracy and Joe Watters of Rome, he has already been accepted to Washington and Lee, where he is a finalist for the Johnson Scholarship; the University of Georgia, where he is a finalist for the Foundation Fellowship; and Georgetown University.

Watters said he picked Wilson to be his STAR Teacher because of the impact she has had on him during the past four years in the classroom and as the yearbook advisor.

A STAR winner from each school system will be picked on March 11.

Click here to read a previous story about a Coosa STAR.

Those winners will represent their respective schools at a district banquet later in the semester.