Evans High School STARs

Garret Thompson is Evans High School's STAR student, and he has named his AP English teacher, Debbie Daniel, as his STAR teacher.

Garret, 17, is the son of Paul and Diane Thompson of Martinez. He plans to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology next year and major in computer science.

He is the web master for Evans High's Web site. He is a member of The National Society of High School Scholars and a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship. He is also a member of the Beta Club, Science Club and Math Team. Twice he has achieved a perfect score on the verbal portion of the SAT test.

"Garret has a wonderful mind and reads a lot," Daniel said. "He writes beautifully. He thinks way beyond his years and is capable of understanding complex ideas. I can see him processing what's going on in class, and I often wonder what's going on in his head. He is a hard worker, and he is going to be successful."

After school, Garret works at the Gibbs Library.

He said it was hard to pick a STAR teacher.

"But out of all the teachers I have, she is the one who gives me the most freedom in her class to think of different ideas instead of just sticking to the curriculum," Garret said.

Daniel, who has taught at Evans High for the past 25 years, plans to retire this year. She has taught advanced-placement English for the past 14 years and has been named her school's STAR teacher four times.

"It really means a lot to me this year," she said.

EVANS HIGH SCHOOL

Student: Garret Thompson

Teacher: Debbie Daniel