English is Raeisa’s favourite subject

Raeisa’s favourite subject is English, so she wasn’t too surprised when she found out that she scored the highest mark in that subject in the 2009 Common Entrance Examination.{{more}}

Raeisa Bryon-Cox, a student of the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School, scored 97.78 per cent for English, 93.33 per cent for Math and 83.37 per cent for General Paper. She placed 10th for girls and 14th overall. She is the daughter of Dr. Richard Byron Cox and Phylis Forde of Harmony Hall.

The St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School student related to Searchlight how excited. She was upon hearing of her scores. “I was very excited, I expected to do well,” she said. The soft spoken 11-year-old also recalled how thrilled she was when she heard that she had the highest percentage in English. “I heard it on TV… I was drinking some soup and (it) spilled out on my lap,” she said chuckling.

Raeisa added that she studied “really, really, really hard” for the exams, cutting back on watching television and listening to a lot of news to keep up to date with current events. Her parents, she said, supported her well during her preparation. Her father, she said, even returned from Germany to help her with her studies. “They basically said do your best and we’ll be proud of you no matter what you come,” she said.

Raeisa admitted that the exams were very easy, with General Paper being the only challenging exam. She hopes to become an Architect in the future, as she is fascinated by the shapes and designs of houses.

Raeisa will be attending the Girls’ High School. However, her summer plans include watching a lot of television, as well as spending time with family and friends in New York.

The St. Mary’s Roman Catholic school had an overall pass rate of 73.9, a percentage that Grade six teacher Philip Farrell described as being good. Farrell said that he thinks the success of the children has a lot to do with the participation of the parents in the children’s education.

Farrell added that this is something that the school and the teachers have been emphasizing for some time and will continue to encourage parents to be there for their children every step of the way. (OS)