Azik: “I expected to do well, but I was jumping for joy

Azik Douglas says that he is contented with his performance in this year’s Common Entrance Examinations (CEE).{{more}}

He also remains confident that he will continue to do well in the future.

With scores of 87.2 percent in English, 95 per cent in Mathematics and 91.67 percent in General Paper, the eleven-year-old did his school, the Marriaqua Government School, proud placing fifth overall and fourth for boys in this year’s CEE, with an average of 91.13 percent.

“I expected to do well, but I was jumping for joy,” Douglas said.

“On the day of the Common Entrance, I kept thinking about what I would come and if I would be able to meet my parents’ expectations,” he continued.

Douglas told SEARCHLIGHT that he remained focused on doing well, although he admitted to being a bit anxious.

He attributed his success to the hours spent working on past papers, and thanks his teachers and his parents Jasmine Woods and Glendon Douglas for their assistance.

“I also played some music to calm my mind,” Douglas, who plays the piano, explained.

He said that he will be attending the St Vincent Grammar School, where he says he intends to continue with his love for Mathematics, as he wants to become a chemist.

Science is not his only passion, as the young Richland Park man has a keen sense of business, as he has been selling tarts to his school mates recently.

It will be sad to leave behind his beloved teachers, but Douglas said that he is looking forward to learning new things and continuing to do well academically at secondary school.

Meanwhile Erene Richardson, Principal of the Marriaqua Government School, told SEARCHLIGHT that Douglas has always been a consistent student who remained in the top three during his time at that institution.

Douglas’ inclusion in the top ten this year was the first for the school since 2004, Richardson said.

“We have been working consistently ever since,” she explained, adding that about three years ago, a decision was made for the staff to adopt a different approach to teaching, to facilitate the type of students that were coming into the school.

These strategies and the support of the parents have paid off, as was evident in the number of students from that institution who met the required standard of the CEE this year, Richardson said.

Of the 35 candidates from that institution to write this year’s exams, 26 received the required standard marks.

This prompted her to say that, most often, those students who do well, are usually from prominent families in society.

“But our children are from humble parents who work hard,” Richardson said.

She contended that the school has been maintaining a standard, a fact which many are beginning to realize.

According to Richardson, the lines of parents wishing to get their children into the school for the new school year are long, and they have had to turn away children who reside in communities like Greiggs and Richland Park, outside of the immediate environs of the school.(DD)