Taylor County High School senior, Danica Zheng, has been named the school’s 2025 PAGE STAR Student. Jennifer Albritton, STAR Coordinator and member of the Kiwanis Club of Taylor County, announced the honor at the Kiwanis Club Meeting on January 24th. The Kiwanis Club has been the local sponsor of the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program for the past 66 years.
Danica selected Mr. Ray Malmgren, former English teacher at Taylor County High School, as her STAR Teacher. Danica and Mr. Malmgren were recognized and honored with special awards by the Kiwanis Club at its meeting. Also, Danica will receive a $1,000.00 academic scholarship from the Kiwanis Club. They both participated in the meeting by giving remarks.
As a Taylor County High School senior, Danica’s extracurricular activities include: Beta Club, Georgia Movie Academy, FBLA, Key Club, Robotics Club, Skills USA, Sports Film Broadcasting, Student Council, and Tennis. Her honors include: highest PSAT award, Georgia Certificate of Merit Scholar, and Governor’s Honor Nominee for American Literature. She plans to attend Georgia Institute of Technology and major in mechanical engineering. Danica is the daughter of Mike Zheng and Bonnie Hu.
A STAR Teacher is selected by the declared high school STAR Student for having made the most significant contribution to the STAR Student’s scholastic development. Mr. Malmgren taught Danica American Literature. Mr. Malmgren taught for Taylor County High School for eight years before taking a positon in Crawford County.
The PAGE Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program is sponsored, administered, and promoted by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE). Since its inception in 1958, the STAR program has honored nearly 30,000 students and the teachers selected as the most influential to their academic achievements. High school seniors must have the highest score on a single test date on the SAT and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their classes based on grade point averages to qualify for STAR nominations.