Habersham Central High School named the class of 2022’s valedictorian, salutatorian, STAR student and STAR teacher at an after-school ceremony Thursday.
HCHS Principal Jonathan Stribling announced Valedictorian Morgan Amanda Kastner, Salutatorian Abigail Rose Dini, STAR Student Molly Grace Butler and STAR Teacher Karl Mealor to an audience of school faculty, staff, administration, parents, friends and press.
Class of 2022’s valedictorian and salutatorian
Valedictorian Kastner has taken 10 dual enrollment classes in her time at HCHS, while also participating in a slew of extracurriculars. She plans to attend the University of Georgia to major in education.
“Always a smiling face, make no mistake, Morgan is all business when it comes to her academics,” Stribling said.
Stribling says that best of all, Kastner plans to bring what she learns at UGA back to Habersham, where she says she hopes to start her education career.
“I just love the people here,” Kastner says of returning to Habersham. “Everybody’s so nice, everybody’s friendly, everybody knows everybody.”
Salutatorian Dini is a volleyball player and president of the school’s student council, among other items in her academic resume, and has earned a total of six dual enrollment college credits.
“To say the very least, Abby has been an outstanding raider,” Stribling said. “Abby is a well-rounded student, excelling in the most rigorous academic programming Habersham Central has to offer.”
Dini also plans to start her career back in Habersham— or in a small town like it.
“I like being involved in my community,” Dini says. “I serve with my church and I work in a local restaurant. I don’t know if [my future plans are] necessarily here or another small town, but I like that sense of community and everyone here.”
2022’s STAR student and STAR teacher
STAR Student Butler is a volleyball player, mock trial participant and the only student at Habersham Central to dual enroll in linear algebra at Georgia Tech. She hopes to move Northeast to study medical anthropology and literature, with the goal of becoming a medical journal writer.
“To say the least, Molly is impressive,” Stribling said.
As STAR student, Butler chose this year’s STAR teacher, which can be any teacher from any grade level that had a major impact on her education. She chose to honor math teacher Karl Mealor, who helped her through AP Calculus when she was the youngest person in the class.
“Mr. Mealor made it really easy to learn in that environment,” she says. “He was a very great teacher to have.”
This is the second time a HCHS student receiving top honors has named Mealor as one of their most influential teachers.
“I couldn’t be more proud of you,” HCHS Principal Jonathan Stribling told the students. “I told you earlier that we have 447 graduates, and you’ll be sitting on the front row.”
