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NATCHEZ — Adams County Christian School senior Ava McDonald has been named STAR Student for the 2023-2024 school year by the Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program.

McDonald is the daughter of Josh and Holly McDonald.

Students are selected on the basis of academic excellence and they themselves designate a STAR Teacher who has made the greatest impact on their scholastic achievements.

For her STAR Teacher, McDonald named Taylor Lane, who teaches her least favorite class subjects — biology and anatomy and physiology.

Lane has taught 8th, 10th and 12th grade science courses at ACCS going on 10 years.

“I have learned so much in her class, and I don’t like science,” McDonald said. “I’ve enjoyed her class regardless and the way she teaches it makes it cool to learn and it makes sense.”

Lane describes McDonald as “the perfect student.”

“She is beautiful inside and out and I’ll miss her very much when she graduates,” she said.

McDonald — who considers herself a problem solver — said her favorite study area is math and particularly Algebra.

After she graduates in a few short weeks, McDonald said she plans to take her dual enrollment credits from Co-Lin to Mississippi College to finish her undergraduate degree in Christian Studies while pursuing a minor in missionary work.

Her plan is to become a missionary, she said

McDonald said her inspiration to become a missionary comes in part from her youth pastor Robert Wallis, who so happens to be the Associate Pastor of Community Chapel Church in Natchez.

“There are so many people in my life I look up to, including my parents, and numerous people at my church who treat me like their grandchild,” she said.

She intends to work her way through college in the children’s ministry, where McDonald’s passion is.

She does some mission work already while still in high school, she said.

McDonald volunteers her time at her church nursery and cooking ministry, which feeds the hungry and shut-ins with a program similar to Meals on Wheels, she said.

She also volunteers at the new Miss-Lou Pregnancy Center in Vidalia, Louisiana, which provides free support services to expectant mothers.

“I just help whenever and wherever help is needed,” she said.

She is a member of the National Honor Society, National Beta Club, National Art Honor Society, and ACCS Student Council. She is her class representative in the Student Council and National Art Honor Society, she said.

She was also named fourth runner-up in the ACCS beauty pageant.

In her spare time, McDonald enjoys fishing, shopping and watching her siblings at sporting events, she said.