By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterCLARENCE PEART has much to smile about.
Not only will the 12-year-old Yallahs Primary student attend Ardenne High, the school of his choice, but he also secured one of the top awards, the Paul Bogle Scholarship, following the results of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).
"I know that I was going to pass for a good school and when I hear about the scholarship, I felt good because I knew I did my best," he told The Gleaner yesterday.
Ardenne was his first choice and "when I heard, I was jumping, screaming, very glad. I was very happy," he said.
According to his elated mother, Yvonne Johnson, Clarence was destined to be a success long before his GSAT performance. It was common to see As and Bs on his report and he is active in his class and school, serving as class monitor for grade 6B1. He is also a member of the drama and 4H clubs and a peer counsellor, she said.
There was a smile in her voice as she confessed that she had seen signs of his achievement in a dream the night before the results were announced in the media. "I am so excited. I'm proud, I am proud," gushed Ms. Johnson, a single mother of four children. Clarence's father died in a traffic accident when she was five months pregnant with the boy. "I can't tell you how much I am overwhelmed. I am so happy."
For the 12-year-old, his success in GSAT is just another in a series of steps which will lead to his becoming a zoologist or a geologist in the future.
"I like animals and I want to know more about volcanoes and hurricanes and how the earth came about and those things," Clarence said, admitting that his favourite subject was Social Studies.
He said that there was no strict study plan for GSAT because "when I study hard I worry and about two days before GSAT I just stopped studying and relaxed."
Relaxation involved reading mostly non-fiction, watching the Discovery Channel, cartoons, movies, especially those starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan and listening to music, ranging from soft music and rock and roll to dancehall.
"I know some of the dances. 'Log On', 'Online', 'Higher Level', 'Signal the Plane' and 'Travelling'," he said.
Clarence also spent his free time fishing, playing cricket and football but stressed that study and hard work were never left out.
