2025 STAR Education Celebration

For 60 years the STAR program has recognized the success of over 20,000 STAR Students and STAR Teachers.  The STAR Education Celebration was held on April 10, 2025, at the Clyde Muse Center in Pearl, MS.  The Theme for the event was “The Journey Begins.”  This year,  302 STAR Students along with their STAR Teacher joined the more than 20,000 top scholars and leading teachers who have qualified for recognition in the STAR program since 1965.

A Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School student with a perfect 36 composite score on the American College Test (ACT), combine scores of 144 and grade point average of 99.9941 GPA has been named Mississippi’s TOP ALL-STAR Scholars for 2025. Verena C. Bhagat is the daughter of Rajesh and Claudia Bhagat of Ridgeland, Mississippi. Verena will receive a $24,000 scholarship provided by the Kelly Gene Cook, Sr. Charitable Foundation, Inc. She is undecided on where she will attend college and what she will study. Each STAR Student is asked to designate a STAR Teacher – the teacher who has made the greatest contribution to the student’s scholastic achievement. Verena designated Sallie R. Moseley as her STAR Teacher of Jackson, Mississippi. She has been teaching for 40 years and named STAR Teacher multiple times.

Ryan Boyd Wu, STAR Student from the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science has been named 1st runner-up and will receive a $20,000 Scholarship from the Kelly Gene Cook, Sr. Charitable Foundation, Inc. His parents are Xiaohua Wu and Xiaoxia Li of Madison, Mississippi. Wu designated William Keith Funderburk of Columbus, Mississippi as his STAR Teacher. He has been teaching for 26 years and this is her 4th time being named STAR Teacher.

Andrew Russell Keen, STAR Student from Tupelo High School has been named 2nd runner- up and will receive a $16,000 Scholarship from the Kelly Gene Cook, Sr. Charitable Foundation, Inc. His parents are Fred and Melissa Keen of Tupelo, Mississippi. Keen designated Jonathan C. Begnaud of Tupelo as his STAR Teacher. He has been teaching for 14 years and has been named STAR Teacher 4 times.

Each STAR Teacher of the top three ALL-STAR Scholars received a $1,000 award. One-time scholarship awards of $1,000 are provided to the remaining top 17 ALL-STAR Scholars. The remaining 17 All-Star Teachers received a $500 award. The Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Charitable Foundation, Inc. provided $88,500 in scholarships and awards to STAR Students and STAR Teachers.

See Full List of STAR Students and Teachers