Baldwin County names 2017 STAR Student

Baldwin County’s 2017 STAR Student is Georgia Military College Prep School senior Andy Watkins. He selected Advanced Placement English teacher Amanda Mercer as his STAR Teacher.

Watkins will receive a $1,000 scholarship, and Mercer received $100. Both will go on to compete at the regional level competition in Macon on March 21.

Watkins scored a 1,490 on the SAT. He won the best actor award in a 2015 regional one-act play competition and was named to the 2016 All Star Cast. He also won the American Legion state “Americanism” essay contest.

He’s captain of the soccer team and is a member of the school’s Literary Team, National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. He plans to study neuroscience and behavior at the University of Notre Dame.

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program recognizes high school seniors who have the highest SAT scores in their schools and are in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their classes. Each county’s winner has the highest score among the school winners.

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Baldwin County names 2017 STAR Student."