Holy Innocents' Recognizes 2017 STAR Student, Teacher

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- Sandy Springs-based Holy Innocents' Episcopal School has released the names of its STAR Student and Teacher for the school year.

Senior Clarisa Colton has been named a 2017 STAR Student by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. Colton has selected Holy Innocents’ Middle School/Upper School Orchestra Director Elizabeth Lamback as her STAR Teacher.

The STAR Teacher is chosen by the student as the educator who has had the most influence on his or her's academic career.

The STAR Student recognition, which takes its name from the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program, is based on SAT score and class ranking.

To obtain the designation, a student must have the highest SAT score taken during one sitting throughout his or her's senior year. The student must also be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of the class based on grade point average.

“I'm very honored to have received this award and could not have done it without the help and support of my teachers over the years at Holy Innocents'," Clarisa said. “Mrs. Lamback has especially supported me and pushed me with music, which has helped me in other areas of school, as well.”

Clarisa, the daughter of Claudia and Russell Colton, is a member of the Science National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta math honor society, the Spanish National Honors Society and the Cum Laude Society, which recognizes academic achievement in students who are in the top 10 percent of their class. She also works with the Horizons summer academic enrichment program for low-income, public school children.

An accomplished cellist, Clarisa has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra for two years and was recently selected for Georgia’s All-State Orchestra for the fourth year. She has also studied at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival and the highly selective Brevard Music Center Institute, one of America’s premier summer training programs for gifted musicians.

Lamback, who has been teaching Clarisa for almost seven years, said she has watched the 18-year-old grow, in academics and as a musician.

“Clarisa has a tremendous work ethic and holds herself to a very high standard,” Lamback said. “I think she sets a beautiful example of a well-rounded student who realizes the importance of the arts to a balanced education.”

Lamback holds a bachelor's degree in music from Furman University and a master's degree in music education -- with a concentration in string pedagogy -- from Florida State University.

For more information on the STAR program, visit its website.

Images via Holy Innocents' Episcopal School