DALTON, Ga. — When life at home was becoming more and more difficult for Jacob Smith, more and more he turned to his school family and his studies at Northwest Whitfield High School.

More and more, he turned to teacher Melissa Torbett.

By the time Jacob’s father had died from liver disease in October of his junior year, Jacob said he was going to Mrs. Torbett’s classroom every morning even when he did not have class there, and science and chemistry became his focus and his dream.

On Monday, Smith was one of five students from Dalton and Whitfield County recognized during the STAR — Student Teacher Achievement Recognition — program at the annual Kiwanis Club luncheon at the convention center. STAR students are seniors who are recognized for having the highest score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test while being in the top 10 percent of their class based on grade point average. Along with the five STAR students, five STAR teachers as selected by the students are recognized.

Also honored on Monday were student Jacob Ferguson and teacher Minako Berry (Dalton High School), student Damary Gutierrez-Hernandez and teacher Billy Singletary (Coahulla Creek High School), student Michael Jones and teacher Matt Hickman (Southeast Whitfield High School) and student Kirsten Shultz and teacher Brian Branam (Christian Heritage School).

Shultz, who plans to attend Georgia Tech and study mechanical engineering, was named as the Dalton city winner and will be part of the regional STAR Student recognition and competition in Rome on March 14. She will be joined by Smith, who is the winner for Whitfield County. Finalists from regional competitions will be honored and compete for statewide STAR honors in Atlanta in April.

For Smith, who said Torbett became part of his family after his father died, his honor as a STAR student is a reflection of the teacher who challenged him to achieve so much academically.

“She has always been there to help me learn, and her classroom really helped occupy my mind and keep me focused,” Smith said. “She had been a teacher of mine as a sophomore, but by the fall of my junior year I started going to her classroom every morning and it just became a routine for me.”

Torbett teaches AP (Advanced Placement) chemistry at Northwest. Smith said because of her, he plans to study chemistry at the University of Georgia in the fall.

“Hard work pays off, and she gave me this entirely new ability that if you work hard you will succeed,” Smith said. “There were lots of days where I didn’t feel motivated, but she was always there to push me and help me stay focused on what is next.”

That teacher influence on the goals and expectations of the students was evident with each of this year’s student honorees.

Shultz credited Bible teacher Branam for teaching her that the study of the Bible is not merely a matter of faith but also an intellectual challenge and pursuit that has influenced her in all of her studies.

Ferguson said he was inspired each day with the struggle and the strength and the confidence that his STAR teacher, Berry, showed while battling after being diagnosed with cancer in 2014. Ferguson is undecided on which college he will attend, but said he plans to major in business.

Gutierrez-Hernandez plans to attend Duke and will study mathematics and statistics, taking with her the math principles instilled by AP calculus teacher Singletary, who is a two-time STAR teacher.

Mathematics will also be the subject of study for Southeast’s Jones. He plans to follow in the footsteps of math teacher Hickman, who was selected as a STAR teacher for the fourth time.

The STAR program is in its 59th year and is sponsored by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators.