HIGH ACHIEVERS in this year's University of Cambridge A'level exams were yesterday honoured by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.
They were Jodi Black of Campion College, who placed fourth in the world in A'level Economics; Ryan Brooks, also of Campion College, who placed fourth in Spanish, and Adrian Nembhard of Kingston College who placed fourth in Geometrical and Mechanical Drawing.
Students who performed well in last year's Cambridge A'level exams were also presented with certificates, as were their schools.
Both Black and Nembhard missed the event yesterday because they were already overseas studying, but Brooks told The Gleaner he was thrilled to have been recognised in such a fashion.
Relating how he heard the news of his placement, Brooks said it was his mother who told him she heard he had done will in his exam. He said he never over-reacted to the news.
"I had this smile. I was reflecting on what it would mean," said the 18-year-old who said he began messing around with his mother's Spanish book from when he was a child.
Just as happy was his teacher, Cynthia Pearson.
"I think it's tremendous," she said. "It's kind of mind-boggling to think of being placed fourth in the world in a language that is not your mother tongue."
Sharing in the joy was Brooks' mother, Dorine, who said she could barely control her self in bumper-to-bumper traffic recently when she heard of her son's success, while driving home.
"I said 'Oh Lord, I can't believe it'," she said. "Traffic was slow on Marcus Garvey Drive, so maybe the other motorists were wondering if I was going mad."
Meanwhile, Paulette Thomp-son-Black, collected a certificate on her daughter's behalf then told The Gleaner she was quite pleased with Jodi's performance.
"I've always tried to encourage her, and she herself has been a consistent hard worker through all stages of school," she said.
For his part, Ivan 'Wally' Johnson, acting principal of Kingston College, said he hoped Adrian's performance would be a catalyst for the boys at his school in future examinations.
"His achievement represents the very best the school has to offer and it will act as a tremendous boost for all those intellectually-gifted students coming up behind him," he said.
Addressing the gathering, Elizabeth Norris, the CIE's director for the Caribbean and Latin America, said her organisation was pleased with the way the Jamaican students had performed. She also pointed to the important input of the students' teachers, parents and guardians.
For his part, Fitz Jackson, State Minister in the Minister of Education, told The Gleaner that the students' performance vindicated the Ministry's effort to provide quality education.
"The fact that they can provide world-class performance underscores that we are performing at a world-class level," he said. "Their performance will assist the overall lifting of Jamaican students."
