Rikaiyah Winters has been named as a STAR (Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition) Student at Vicksburg High School for the 2015-2016 school year by the Mississippi Economic Council’s M. B. Swayze Foundation.

STAR Students are selected on the basis of academic excellence. Both American College Test scores and scholastic averages are compared to determine the school’s STAR Student, explained Vickie Powell of Jackson, senior vice president of the foundation.

Winters, the daughter of Avril Brown and Carl Winters, earned a 30 on her ACT test.

Each STAR Student is asked to designate a STAR Teacher, the teacher who has made the greatest contribution to the student’s scholastic achievement. Winters selected her advanced placement and honors chemistry teacher Regina O’Leary as her STAR teacher.

“When I was in her class, she was my favorite teacher,” she said. “I felt comfortable in her class.”

O’Leary said Winters is simply one of the best.

“She’s a self-starter,” she said. “I think she motivates her peers to work harder. She’s goal-oriented and knows what she wants, and she’s going to work to do whatever is necessary to get it.”

After teaching Winters in two chemistry classes, O’Leary said the senior still drops by to visit.

“When she came that day to tell me she chose me as her STAR teacher, I was elated,” she said. “It’s one thing to be chosen by your peers, but then to be chosen by a student, it was absolutely fantastic. It was one of the best rewards I’ve ever gotten.”

O’Leary’s classes made an impact on Winters, she said, adding she will major in chemical engineering in the fall at Mississippi State, where she is eligible for a $6,000 scholarship for being STAR student.

Winters takes advanced placement courses at Vicksburg High School where she is involved in band, color guard, winter guard, Mu Alpha Theta and National Honor Society.

Last year, Winters interned with the United Way of West Central Mississippi where she performed clerical work and made trips to partner agencies.

“I learned so much about Vicksburg that I didn’t even know,” she said. “The people there — I love them — they’re so nice.”

Winters will be honored during the STAR Program at the annual Education Celebration on April 28 at the Jackson Convention Center in downtown Jackson.