Head boy, girl lead with top GSAT scores

Barrington Flemming, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

HEAD BOY, Rhyan Strachan, and Janelle Chambers, head girl, emerged as the top performers in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) for Chetwood Memorial Primary in Montego Bay, getting identical averages of 94 per cent.

An elated Sandra Needham Ellis, teacher, said she had always been impressed with their work, but both having scored the same average was a surprise.

"I am very proud of all my students, but especially these two. Rhyan has always been consistent, neat, and punctual in all he does, so it was no surprise that he did so well," she said.

"Similarly for Janelle. She was always determined to succeed and never gave up easily. So with that in mind, I was expecting great things from them."

The quiet, unassuming Rhyan said the test was manageable but lamented that he had a struggle with social studies.

"Some of the social studies questions were structured differently, so I had a challenge understanding them. However, everything else was how I expected them to be."

Study time for Rhyan meant finding a quiet place and then revising the school material. After having done that, he would then get someone to ask him questions on what he had studied. This, he says, has been a tried, tested, and proven method for him.

The head boy, who assists with maintaining discipline at the school, has his mind set on becoming a doctor, and with good reason.

"I don't like to see people suffering, people in pain and I am unable to assist them, so by becoming a doctor, I believe that I would be able to change that because right now I cannot help them."

Rhyan will be attending Herbert Morrison Technical High School.

Top scores

Janelle is bound for Montego Bay High School and hopes to become a surgeon. It is no surprise that her favourite subject is science. But as life would have it, her top scores were 96 per cent for English language and mathematics, and not science.

"It (GSAT) was manageable, but the social studies had some tricky questions. Overall, though, I did not encounter much difficulty."

Preparing for GSAT, like it was for Rhyan, was finding a quiet place to revise the material.

"Noise is not an option. The quiet time is best," Janelle said.

She enjoys reading a good book or watching television when not pursuing academic work.

Chetwood Memorial's principal, Vilma Campbell, said she was happy with the overall performance of the students. She said the school had a history of good performances. Board chairman, Judith Whyte, also echoed similar sentiments and added that she was expecting "even greater things in the near future".