Lakeside senior area's top students

Two Lakeside High School seniors were recently recognized as the region's top students.

Adam Robert Colligan and Anant Mandawat tied for honors as the 2004 STAR, or Student Teacher Achievement Recognition, students for Region 7.

Adam chose his French teacher, Jane Elliott, as his STAR teacher, and Anant chose his Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher, Marsie Anderson, as his STAR teacher.

Anant, the 17-year-old son of Mahendra and Rama Mandawat of Martinez, and Adam, the 18-year-old son of Mary Riser of Martinez and Bob Colligan of Augusta, both scored perfect 1600 scores on their SATs.

They received the honor at the Region 7 STAR banquet March 18 in Thomson where STAR winners from the 13 school systems in east Georgia's Region 7 talked about their plans for the future and introduced their STAR teachers.

Adam, Anant and their STAR teachers were presented with plaques and monetary awards from the Cecil B. Day Foundation and the PAGE Foundation. They also received an invitation to attend the state PAGE STAR banquet April 29 in Atlanta.

Now in its 46th year, the STAR program is sponsored by the PAGE Foundation, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Education. Since its inception, the STAR program has honored more than 19,000 students and their STAR teachers.

STAR students are selected on the basis of their SAT scores and class standing. This year's winners had to have the highest SAT score in his or her class through the November 2003 testing and rank in the top 10 percent in grade point average. STAR students select their STAR teacher as the one who has had the most influence on their academic achievement.