Another Petal High School student has helped cement the Petal School District’s status as the top district in the state, as senior Laci Pitts recently was named a STAR Student for the 2022-23 school year by the Mississippi Economic Council M.B. Swayze Foundation.
The STAR program – formally known as the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition program – is designed to recognize outstanding students and teachers in Mississippi through the Education Celebration. The program encourages and promotes academic achievement among Mississippi’s high school seniors; STAR students are selected based on academic excellence.
“It’s such an honor to be able to represent the school district as their STAR Student, because it is such a good district,” Pitts said. “Having so many teachers pour into me, and this being the fruit of not only my work but their work, it’s just an honor.”
Each STAR student is asked to designate a STAR Teacher, who is the teacher who has made the greatest contribution to the student’s scholastic achievement. Pitts selected Kathryn Daniels – who teaches AP European History, AP Seminar and World History, along with serving as the chair of the history department – as her teacher.
“Mrs. Daniels is single-handedly the greatest education influence in my life,” Pitts said. “She is fabulous. She is the best teacher I’ve ever had, but more than that, she cares so deeply about her students that her class is always somewhere I can come if I have a problem personally or in school.
“It’s just a safe place, but also she has pushed me harder than any other teacher, because I’ve had her for two AP classes. Having her there to not only push me, but comfort me, it made her my STAR teacher.”
Daniels said she is incredibly honored to be named as Pitts’ STAR Teacher.
“Laci is remarkable, truly one in a million,” Daniels said. “As both her teacher for two years and program director for Distinguished Young Women, I can attest to her incredible character and leadership inside and outside of the classroom.
“Laci is such a compassionate, hardworking young woman, and this accolade is much deserved.”
Pitts and Daniels will be honored on April 13, during the annual Education Celebration at the Clyde Muse Center in Pearl, where the Top 20 STAR students and Mississippi ALL-STAR Scholar will be named. The top 20 STAR Students –The ALL-STAR Scholars – will receive scholarships and their STAR Teachers will receive awards provided by the Kelly Gene Cook, Sr. Charitable Foundation.
The highlight of the Education Celebration will be the naming of the Mississippi ALL-STAR Scholar for the 2022-23 school year, winner of the $24,000 Cook Foundation Scholarship.
After graduation, Pitts will attend Ole Miss, from which she has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship for being named a STAR Student. There, she will major in business management and minor in sports administration.
“I plan on going to law school after (undergraduate), because I want to do something in sports law,” Pitts said. “I’ve basically grown up on a ball field my entire life, whether it’s been me playing or going to my brother’s and sister’s games.
“Sports is just an integral part to who I am, and I can’t imagine my life ever not having it. I was not necessarily blessed with the ability to play sports in college, so I just know that I want to have it in my life somehow, and I love the legality of how sports leagues are run and all that kind of stuff.”
