Cathedral Senior Christopher Martin has always excelled in math.

He is a member of his school’s science and math tournament team and he is the only Cathedral student to complete a second year of calculus before graduating.

This has helped him become Cathedral’s STAR Student for the class of 2000.

&uot;I was kind of excited that I got it,&uot; Martin said of the honor.

Each year, high schools select their senior with the highest ACT score as the star student. Martin earned a 32. As part of the honor, star students name a teacher from their school as star teacher for the year.

Martin selected Ken Beesley, his math teacher and baseball coach. This is the fifth year a student has named Beesley star teacher.

&uot;I just try to be a good teacher,&uot;&160;Beesley said. &uot;Lot of time you don’t realize what kind of affect you have on your students,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;It’s a big honor to be star teacher.&uot;

Beesley said Martin is the kind of student he likes to teach.

&uot;He’s been a good student. I wish I had several more students like him,&uot; he said.

Martin said he picked Beesley because of the years they have spend in math class and on the baseball field together.

&uot;He taught me four years of math,&uot; he said. &uot;We’ve always got along real well.&uot;

Since Martin is the only student taking second year calculus, he is teaching the material to himself with some help from Beesley.

This is possible, in part, because Martin’s self-motivation.

&uot;He’s doing most of the work on his own. I’m just kind of overseeing him,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;He’s focused on his studies. He’s interested in learning.&uot;

Martin is the son of Lee and Deborah Martin and has a fourth-grade brother, Geoffrey.

He will attend the University of Mississippi in the fall to study either civil or chemical engineering

&uot;I’ve always liked Old Miss and I’ve always felt comfortable up there,&uot; Martin said about his college choice.