Riverwood 2019 STAR Student And Teacher Named

From Riverwood Int'l: Riverwood International Charter School is proud to announce Michelle Stanek as the 2018-19 STAR Student; she chose Social Studies faculty member Daniel Gribble as her STAR teacher. To obtain the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR), high school seniors must have the highest score on a single test date on the three-part SAT taken through the November test date of their senior year and be in the top ten percent, or top ten students, of their class based on grade point average. The STAR program honors Georgia's outstanding high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development.

Stanek is an IB Diploma Candidate with higher level courses in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Literature. She plans to attend Georgia Tech and major in Mechanical Engineering. Stanek interned at Piedmont Hospital shadowing various physicians across several specialties and is now considering a pre-med track at Georgia Tech and eventually attending medical school.

Stanek’s STAR teacher is Social Studies faculty member Daniel Gribble. Stanek said, “I have never met a teacher who cares more about his students than Mr. Gribble. His special brand of tough love and even tougher assignments and the individual, essay- length recommendation letters that he handcrafts are examples of the way his teaching style pushes and supports students. His entertaining lectures and interesting assignments have inspired my classmates and I to explore our curiosity and go beyond what is asked of us. In the three years I’ve had him, he has taught me quite a lot about

World History and Theory of Knowledge, but more importantly, I’ve learned lessons I’ll need to succeed inside and outside the classroom.” Stanek has an impressive list of honors and achievements. She is a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist and received the Harvard Prize Book Award. A member of the Principal’s Honor Roll for four years, she also received academic achievement awards in IB Math HL, IB Chemistry HL, AP World History, Spanish 3 Honors, and Honors Biology. She was the school’s winner of Riverwood’s annual “Big Questions Debate” in
both 2017 and 2018. Stanek serves as President of the National Honor Society, Vice President of the Chemistry Club, and is a member of both the Science National Honor Society and Beta Club. She tutors students in the Rader Writing Center as well as tutors her peers in AP World History. Not only is she a distinguished scholar, she holds a black-belt in Taekwondo and is an avid thespian. Stanek has been in every school theatre performance at Riverwood, landing lead roles in Lend Me a Tenor (Diana) and You Can’t Take it With You (Alice).

Says Gribble, ”Michelle represents a rare combination of natural intellect, eclectic curiosity, and personal charisma that make her the modern equivalent of a renaissance woman. Her studies are representative of a keen intellect that embraces deep thinking, that loves satire, and that expresses itself with enough wit to be humorous without being categorically “sassy.” This year, our conversations have oft overflowed into musings on the role of education, the challenges of social change, and even the differences between a teleological basis for decision making and a deontological rational.” Gribble continues, “Michelle is that rare student that is as much at home in her IB Higher Level Math course as she is in her IB Higher Level Literature course. Natural curiosity is as evident in her study of poetry as it is in her study of polyatomic ions. It is as much a part of her joy when listening to Simon and Garfunkel’s “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme” as it is a part of her celebration of life as she works through one of her Taekwondo workouts with a fluidity that is both powerful and graceful. In each and every arena, her curiosity finds an opportunity give purpose and significance to her actions, discourse, and thinking. Michelle has more than personal charisma, she has a sense of panache that enables her to light up the stage in Crimes of the Heart or Pippin, and shine as Alice Sycamore (You Can’t Take it With You). It has been my great privilege to serve as one of Michelle’s teachers, and I look forward to seeing her continued growth and success”

Both will be honored at a breakfast by the Midtown Rotary Club this spring at the annual PAGE Foundation STAR Banquet.

Images via Riverwood Int'l