Cherrianne tops in CSEC
Many students who had exceptional performances at the 2012 CXC Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Common Entrance Exams were last Friday awarded for their efforts at a National Awards Ceremony.{{more}}
In her welcome remarks, Chief Education Officer Lou-Anne Gilchrist told students that their journey to success had just begun.
âYou are nowhere close to the finish line with regard to your academic achievements or your psychosocial and spiritual development,â Gilchrist said. âI, therefore, implore you to aim for excellence in all of your endeavours and not to rest on your laurelsâ.
In addition to the many individual awards given out at the ceremony, schools were awarded for their studentsâ overall performance.
For yet another year, the Girlsâ High School was awarded for being the school with the best CSEC results. The award for the school with the most improved results went to the West St George Secondary School, while the award for school with best results after remediation was given to the Bishopâs College Kingstown.
Amidst the excitement were two young ladies who worked hard to achieve great success.
With 12 subject passes, including 11 grade ones, Cherrianne Davis of the Girlsâ High School received the award for Top Performer Overall at CSEC.
âAcademically, Cherrianne did well and was able to maintain a 75.5 percent average at our institution,â said Andrea Bowman, the headmistress, in Davisâ citation. âCherrianne took on the challenge of wanting to be the best in every subject area.â
When SEARCHLIGHT spoke with Davis, she expressed gratitude and extreme happiness for having earned herself such an award.
âIt feels really great like even after itâs almost a year,â the Community College student said. âI was a bit anxious awaiting the ceremony, but now that Iâm actually here, the feeling is coming back all over again.â
Studying math, physics and communication studies at the college, Cherrianne hopes to pursue studies in mechanical engineering in the future.
Speechless about her daughterâs success, Joslyn Foy also shared her elation with SEARCHLIGHT.
âI feel happy that I was a part of it. Iâm very proud and happy because of all the hard work that we have done and I know that it has just begun,â she said.
Foy highlighted that it is imperative that parents work with their children when they have school work.
âDonât just tell them âOkay you have homework, so go and do your homeworkâ. You have to be there with them, do the homework with themâ¦working with Cherrianne was as if I was back at school,â she explained.
Zonelle Simon beamed as she was bestowed a similar honour, the LIME award for the Top Performer Overall after Remediation.
Simonâs academic career was nothing short of an adventure, as she moved from the Stubbs Primary School to Belmont Government School before going back to Stubbs Primary to sit the common entrance examination.
The teenager began her secondary education at the Bishopâs College Kingstown, but was moved to the Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia after repeating forms three and four.
It was at Emmanuel that Simon sat her CSEC examinations and copped nine subjects, consisting of three grade 2s and six grade 3s.
âIt actually feels nice and Iâm very proud of myself. I did not expect to be here,â Simon said, glowing at her achievement.
Although she is currently studying history and law at the Community College, Division of Arts, Science and General Studies, Simon told SEARCHLIGHT that she is hoping to pursue studies in medicine next year.
The ambitious 19-year-old encouraged persons who are having a struggle similar to what she had, to always believe in themselves.
âBe yourself. No matter what people say about you; once you believe in yourself, you will know that you can excel,â she said.
Not only did Simon come out on top for performance after remediation, but she was also the top performer at CSEC for the Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia.
Rosalie Simon, Zonelleâs mother, was also speechless, but expressed great pride at Zonelleâs achievement.
âIâm so proud of my daughter,â she gushed. âAt first, she was a slow learnerâ¦it was a tough task but she is now very successfulâ. (BK)