--- title: HR 301. Barrow County's 2025 STAR Students and STAR Teachers; commend collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hr301 cite_as: HR 301, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr301 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr301.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr301/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70471 date: 2025-02-18 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr300.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr302.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 131 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr301.md?full=1 bill_number: HR 301 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-02-18 last_action: House Read and Adopted sponsors: - Houston Gaines - Holt Persinger - Chuck Efstration text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HR301/2025 upstream_id: 1974160 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - education - STAR Students - Barrow County - teacher recognition --- # HR 301. Barrow County's 2025 STAR Students and STAR Teachers; commend ## Text House Resolution 301 By: Representatives Gaines of the 120th, Persinger of the 119th, and Efstration of the 104th A RESOLUTION Commending Barrow County's 2025 STAR Students and STAR Teachers; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, the following students have been recognized as Barrow County's 2025 STAR Students: Christopher Skyler Mack, Apalachee High School; Lucy Grace Bugg, Barrow Arts & Sciences Academy; Bennett Logan, Bethlehem Christian Academy; and Alexander Liangyu Hou, Winder-Barrow High School; and WHEREAS, these students were granted the opportunity to name a STAR Teacher from their respective schools whose guidance and support played a vital role in their success: Mrs. Holly Behzadi, tenth grade Honors and AP Chemistry, Apalachee High School; Mr. Jeffery Lalaian, 12th grade AP Calculus, Barrow Arts & Sciences Academy; Mrs. Tammy Suertefelipe, 12th grade AP Literature, Bethlehem Christian Academy; and Mr. Cason Dowdy, 11th grade Physics, Physics Honors, and AP Physics, Winder-Barrow High School; and WHEREAS, these exemplary students have personified the selfless dedication, mental agility, and personal maturity necessary for superlative academic performance; and WHEREAS, a proper quality education for the young people of this state is the single most important objective of the Georgia General Assembly, and these distinguished individuals have shown that the pursuit and attainment of scholastic success are within the reach of the students in this state; and WHEREAS, the State of Georgia looks with great anticipation toward the future of these bright and promising young students and honors the efforts of educators who go above and beyond in order to impact the lives of our youth. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body heartily commend Barrow County's 2025 STAR Students and STAR Teachers and express their most sincere best wishes for continued success. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the public and the press. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House resolution formally commends Barrow County's 2025 STAR Students and the teachers they chose as their STAR Teachers, honoring their academic achievement. ### Plain-language summary This resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives recognizes four students named as Barrow County's 2025 STAR Students, one each from Apalachee High School, Barrow Arts & Sciences Academy, Bethlehem Christian Academy, and Winder-Barrow High School. Each of these students was given the chance to select a STAR Teacher from their school who helped guide their academic success, and those four teachers are named and honored alongside the students. The resolution does not change any Georgia law. It simply states the House's praise for the students' academic performance and the teachers' contributions, and directs the Clerk of the House to make copies available to the public and press. ### What it does - Names and commends four Barrow County students as 2025 STAR Students from their respective schools. - Recognizes four teachers chosen by those students as STAR Teachers for their role in the students' success. - Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to prepare copies of the resolution for public and press distribution. - Creates no new legal requirements, funding, or penalties, since it is a commendation rather than a change to Georgia law. ### Who it affects The four named Barrow County students, the four named teachers, and their schools (Apalachee High School, Barrow Arts & Sciences Academy, Bethlehem Christian Academy, and Winder-Barrow High School) are directly named and honored by this resolution. ### Why it matters The resolution has no legal effect on Georgians generally; its significance is symbolic recognition for the named students and teachers, publicly acknowledging their academic achievement through an official act of the Georgia House of Representatives. ### Key provisions - The whereas clauses identify the four 2025 STAR Students and the schools they attend. - The whereas clauses also name the STAR Teacher each student selected, including their subject and grade level taught. - The resolved clause formally commends the students and teachers and wishes them continued success. - A further resolved clause directs the Clerk of the House to distribute copies of the resolution to the public and press. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-02-18) - Last action: House Read and Adopted (2025-02-18) - Sponsors: Houston Gaines, Holt Persinger, Chuck Efstration - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70471 > The history, votes, and amendments (131 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hr301.md?full=1