Four students of the Ann Hill School were rewarded for creating history at the institution. They were the first from the school for special needs students to acquire a Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) certificate.
Completing the usual two-year syllabus in one year, the students acquired passes in electronic document preparation management (EDPM).
History makers (from left) Kadeem Wilkinson, Steffan Evelyn, Desiree Brathwaite and Nico Harewood –– the first set of students to receive Caribbean Examination Council certificate passes while at school.
The overjoyed students receiving the good news during their vacation were Desiree Brathwaite, who received a Grade 2, and her schoolmates Kadeem Wilkinson, Nico Harewood and Steffan Evelyn, who all got Grade 3s.
Brathwaite recalled that when she received her result, she immediately shared it with her father who was also excited that her hard work had paid off.
“It was very hard preparing. We had to go home with the laptop and look up work and stuff,” Brathwaite who interned with Cooperators General Insurance over the summer period said.
Desiree Brathwaite, who received a Grade 2 in CXC electronic document preparation management, receiving congratulatory words of advice from Cheryl Forde, Cooperators General Insurance human resources marketing manager, with whom she did
her summer internship.
Her schoolmate Harewood admitted that the examination was difficult, and he was expecting not to pass.
“But then my teacher called me and she told me I failed, and then she told me she was just joking. I went outside and told my cousin and my friends,” said Harewood, who intends to sit CXC English language and mathematics.
Education Officer with Responsibility for Business Studies in the Ministry of Education Montege Deane-Bowen, who awarded the students with a token today at morning assembly, commended, congratulated and urged the students to keep striving for excellence.
The students being congratulated by form teacher Kathy-Ann St Hill-St Lawrence (left), Education Officer Montege Deane-Bowen (second from left), Education Officer Janice Gibbs (third from left)
and Ann Hill’s principal Emelda Belle (right).
“Continue to be positive in everything you do. You must always say to yourself, ‘I can do it’. I am so thrilled to share this moment with all of you. So once again keep up the good work,” Deane-Bowen said.
Meanwhile, Education Officer for Special Needs Janice Gibbs, who was also overwhelmed by the students’ performance, noted that the ministry was currently placing emphasis on pushing students with special needs to leave school with some qualifications, so that they would be better equipped
to function in the world of work.
“We have seen this morning that the children are able to do this. They can do it with the support and help of their teachers and the ministry’s staff and their parents.
“So even those who have impairment and deafness over at the Irving Wilson School, they also will be a part of this in the very near future,” Gibbs said.
On the point of support, the students indicated that they could not have done it out with the help of their teacher Kathy-Ann St Hill-St Lawrence, who spent hours passing on knowledge and urging them to do their best.
St Lawrence explained that the students agreed they wanted to attempt the examination after one year’s preparation because they wanted to prove to themselves and others that they could do it.
“It was hard work on their part. They had to put in the hours. I had to put in the hours too; but they had to want it; and I always told them, ‘I can’t want it more than you’. So this is big
for them,” the teacher explained.
Looking ahead, the school will soon be qualified as a centre for Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) studies.