Habersham Central High School honored three of its top academic students during a reception on Thursday.
During the event, school administrators revealed that the Class of 2023 valedictorian is Emily Irvin. Ava Brookshire is the salutatorian, and Hayden Hulsey was named STAR Student of the year.
Hulsey selected HCHS English teacher Kelly Wills-Holland as his STAR Teacher.
Faculty joined family members at the reception in the high school cafeteria to celebrate these students’ achievements.
Valedictorian
The Valedictorian is the student with the highest cumulative weighted grade point average. This person is ranked #1 out of the 488 students who will graduate from Habersham Central this year.
“Emily is an exceptional student at Habersham Central High School,” Stribling said when introducing Irvin as valedictorian. He ran down a list of her academic achievements which included taking ten dual enrollment courses, 11 honors courses, and 12 AP courses. Irvin has been involved in many groups and organizations during her high school career and is a member of Providence Baptist Church.
After graduation, she plans to attend Georgia Tech to study Economics.
Salutatorian
The Salutatorian is the student with the second-highest cumulative weighted grade point average and ranks #2 out of the 488-member graduating class.
“Ava has been an outstanding Raider,” said Stribling in announcing Brookshire as this year’s salutatorian.
Brookshire has taken advantage of dual enrollment classes and has taken nine honors courses and six AP courses. She is the football and basketball cheer captain and serves as vice president of the student council.
Brookshire is a member of Level Grove Baptist Church.
“I’m excited. I’m proud of myself. My parents have always been supportive and pushed me to do my best but never too much to where it overwhelms me,” she says.
After graduating, Brookshire plans to attend UGA to take biology, with her ultimate goal of going into pre-med and dermatology.
STAR Student
The STAR Student Award is given to the student that is in the top 10 percent of the graduating class with the highest SAT score in one sitting.
A member of the varsity soccer team, Stribling calls Hulsey “an exemplary student-athlete.”
Hulsey’s academic resume lists an impressive ten AP courses and 11 honors courses. He attends activities at Gainesville Baptist Church and Level Grove Baptist Church.
Hulsey hopes to attend either Georgia Tech or UGA to study Political Science.
“It’s a very humbling experience to know that all these people here have supported me along the way. It just means a lot that I had something to prove and a lot of people to put in a bunch of work to just help me succeed in it,” he says. “It makes me proud that I’m able to make them proud of me because they put in a lot of work for me.
