April 11, 2025

Golden Triangle Early College High School senior Samuel Hollis, who also attends East Mississippi Community College, has been named a STAR Student by the Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) and one of the school’s instructors, Blair Duke, has been designated as a STAR Teacher.

Hollis and Duke were honored, along with other STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) award recipients, on April 10 during the STAR 2025 Education Celebration at the Clyde Muse Center in Pearl.

“It has been a joy to watch Samuel grow as a student and as a young man during his four years at GTECHS. He has made the most of every opportunity he's been given and has been an outstanding leader/role model for both his classmates and for our younger students,” GTECHS Principal Jill Savely said. “I've had the privilege of working with Ms. Duke in multiple school settings for close to twenty years and I am thrilled to see her passion as an educator recognized in such a meaningful way."

STAR Students are selected based on academic excellence. Both American College Test scores and scholastic averages are compared to determine the school’s STAR Student, MEC Senior Vice President of Foundations Vickie Powell said. 

“The STAR program encourages and promotes academic achievement among Mississippi’s high school seniors,” Powell said. 

Each STAR Student is asked to designate the teacher who has made the greatest contribution to his or her scholastic achievement for a STAR Teacher award. Hollis chose Blair, who teaches Algebra I and II and Geometry at GTECHS.

“Math has never been hard for me but Ms. Duke made math something I could really grasp and understand,” Hollis said. “Another thing about her is that she really cares about her students.”

Duke first met Hollis during his freshman year when he transferred from West Point High School to GTECHS.

“He was always very bright and would answer my questions very quickly,” Duke said. “I am really excited about his future and what he will do.”

GTECHS, which is located on EMCC’s Golden Triangle campus, opened in August 2015 and was created through a partnership between EMCC, the Mississippi Department of Education and the Research and Curriculum Unit at Mississippi State University. In July 2021, EMCC assumed administrative control of the high school.

Students enrolled at GTECHS also take classes at EMCC. During their freshman year, they are allowed to take one college course, with the opportunity to take an increasing number of EMCC courses as they progress through the high school grades. Many GTECHS students graduate simultaneously with a high school diploma and a one-year certificate or two-year associate degree from EMCC in a career technical field or academic major.

In May, Hollis will graduate from GTECHS, while also earning an associate degree from EMCC that same month.

“I came to GTECHS for the opportunity to try and get ahead,” Hollis said. “There are some college classes offered at other high schools but they are online. You don’t get the opportunity to sit in a college classroom like you do here. I think being in the classroom better prepares you for college classes. It’s not like you work at your own pace when you are taking a college class at EMCC. You are in there and there are due dates. You have to pay attention in the college classes.”

Both Hollis and Duke said that one thing that differentiates GTECHS from most high schools is the smaller class sizes.

“You have a lot more opportunity to ask questions here,” Hollis said. “You feel free to be more engaged with the teachers. Another thing, it is like a community, a family. Everyone knows each other. I think our (senior) class is 25 or 26 people. We all know each other pretty well.”

After he graduates from EMCC, Hollis, a West Point native, plans to attend William Carey University to study Worship Leadership.

“My long-term goal is to work fulltime at a church and lead the worship,” Hollis said. “I am going to primary in vocals and music. There is a big need in Mississippi and in the country.”

A Macon native who grew up in Brooksville, Duke now resides in New Hope. She knew at a young age that she wanted to teach.

“I love teaching people and seeing them learn something for the first time and that light-bulb moment happens,” Duke said.

After graduating high school from Victory Christian Academy, Duke attended EMCC for two years before transferring to the Mississippi University for Women where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Math Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish.

Duke’s first teaching job was at her alma mater of Victory Christian Academy where she taught Spanish I and II, Speech, Geometry and Advanced Mathematics. She later taught at Sale Elementary School and Columbus Middle School, returning to Victory Christian Academy for a couple of years. She also taught at Columbus High School, where Savely was the assistant principal at the time.

In 2018, when Duke learned there was an opening at GTECHS, the state’s first early college high school, she applied.  

“I had no idea what GTECHS was to be honest,” Duke said. “When I came for the interview, Jill said, ‘We are kind of different. We march to our own drum.’ I didn’t understand what she meant by that until I came here. I love it. I would say out of all my time in teaching, GTECHS has been the best experience I have had in education.”

Like Hollis, Duke said small class sizes provide an opportunity for more student-teacher interaction. There are other things that set the school apart from traditional high schools, she said.

“In the model we use, our students read, write, think and talk in every class period,” Duke said. “I never thought I would be able to do that for math. I think the relationship we have with our students is different too. We work really hard to build that relationship with them and their parents.”

The purpose of the STAR program, which is celebrating its 60^th anniversary this year, is to encourage and promote scholastic excellence among Mississippi students, and to recognize outstanding teachers, according to information on the Mississippi Economic Council website.

More than 600 STAR Students and STAR Teachers were recognized at the MEC education celebration, with selected students receiving scholarships.