SARAH NUTIAL AND ANNA CAMPBELL DAWKINS Lincoln County native and resident Anna Campbell Dawkins has been selected as the Briarwood Academy STAR teacher for the 2008-2009 school year.

Mrs. Dawkins, who is in her second year of teaching middle and high school science at Briarwood, was selected as STAR Teacher by Briarwood senior Sarah Nutial, the school's as well as Warren County's STAR Student. Mrs. Dawkins is Miss Nutial's chemistry teacher and annual staff advisor.

"Of course I was honored to be chosen as her STAR, but, also, it was just as big an honor to me to learn that she has chosen to go into the field of chemistry," said STAR teacher Mrs. Dawkins. "Sarah is an incredibly well-rounded student - good grades, athletics. She has a wonderful work ethic coupled with the ability to grasp all of the material presented. When you teach her, she doesn't talk. She listens…….intently."

Sarah had similar praise for her teacher and advisor.

"She didn't settle for being a good teacher; she worked to be a great one, and she is. It's not just me. The rest of the class loves her, too.

"She's one of the teachers who has the ability to explain things in a way you can understand," Sarah continued, and then adds with a grin, "She talks with her hands. "No question is too insignificant for her to answer. If anyone ever needs extra help, she'll always stay."

A 2003 graduate of Briarwood, Mrs. Dawkins served as valedictorian of her 2003 graduating class at Briarwood as well as valedictorian of her 2007 graduating class at Emmanuel College in Franklins Springs, Georgia. She holds a B.S. in Biology. She also received the Faculty Award and the Biology Department Award from Emmanuel.

Among many academic honors received at Briarwood, Mrs. Dawkins was also named Gold Medalist Student in 2003. She was a varsity cheerleader and was editor of the Briarwood Academy yearbook, for which she now serves as advisor.

Mrs. Dawkins and her husband Al, a sixth grade teacher in Wilkes County, who was named this year's Teacher of the Year for Washington- Wilkes Middle School, reside in their native Lincolnton. They are both involved with the youth and children's ministry at First Assembly of God in Lincolnton.

Mrs. Dawkins is the daughter of Phillip Campbell of Lincolnton and the late Betty Campbell, a Lincoln County native. Her sister, Faith Campbell, is a junior at Faith Christian Academy in Lincolnton.