Two students at Starkville High School made near-perfect scores on their ACT, and were selected as the school’s Student-Teacher Achievement Recogniton (STAR) students.
Also the STAR students Pepito Thelly and Sean Mackin got to each pick a teacher to be honored with them. Mackin selected math and science teacher Vijay Parchane, while Thelly selected English teacher Anita Johnson. STAR Students are named by the Mississippi Economic Council based on ACT scores and grades. The purpose of the program is to emphasize excellence among Mississippi students and teachers and to recognize the teaching profession. While the program does not directly award scholarships, the top 20 STAR students will be named ALL-STAR scholars and put in the running for scholarships. The top three will receive $24,000, $20,000 and $16,000, respectively. The remaining 17 will receive $1,000 awards. Both Thelly and Mackin scored 35 on the ACT.
“Out of all the teachers at SHS, he’s had the most impact on me,” Mackin said. “Every semester except my very first semester, I’ve had Mr. Parchane in some way or form as a math or a science teacher. I had him for AP physics, AP calculus, AP calculus BC. He’s probably the most qualified and the best teacher, but he’s also just good at explaining how concepts in science and math are related to the outside world.”
Parchane said he had taught both Mackin and Thelly several times. He said he saw great potential in Mackin.
“Of course, subject-wise, he’s one of the best that I’ve ever taught,” Parchane said. “The main thing is about the ACT, I’ve actually never had any student who made a perfect score on the math section of the ACT, and he is the one who made me proud. Now I can say that I have a student who made a perfect 36 on math.”
Thelly said Johnson’s classes had helped him gain a greater respect and understanding of English and literature.
“Those have not been my strong subjects ever,” Thelly said. “It’s always been like math and science, and I never used to find English classes interesting. It was just words and reading and stuff. I took Mrs. Johnson freshman year, and I took her last year for AP (English) one, and those two classes really helped me see literature in different ways. It’s helped me in other things, too. I feel like If I go to college, and I’m writing a research paper, I’m going to use all those techniques that Mrs. Johnson
taught me.”
Thelly also said he had been influenced greatly by Parchane and was glad Mackin had picked Parchane as his STAR Teacher.
“I used to get onto him all the time,” Johnson said. “There was something about that competitiveness in him that likes to finish first, and I was always like Pepito, you are not finished
yet. Go back and do it again. It was just something about that competitive drive in him. But the type of student Pepito is, no matter where he is, he’s going to do well.”
Both Mackin and Thelly are undecided on their college plans, although Mackin said he had applications at institutions such as Harvard, Northwestern and Stanford. Mackin hasalso been named a Mississippi State University Presidential Scholar.
The group will be recognized at a luncheon this month.