WHEN Javanney Campbell brought home news that he was placed at Clan Carthy High School after sitting the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in 2011, his family, especially his father, was devastated.

So upset was the elder Campbell that he refused food for two whole weeks. In his mind, the youngster who had showed so much promise throughout his youngest years had let the family down. They had expected him to join his elder brother Shakeil at the ‘traditional’ Kingston College.

Fast-forward five years. With his son at the end of his journey at Clan Carthy, Jason Campbell’s gross disappointment has morphed into an inexplicable happiness. This, as Javanney silenced all of his naysayers, emerging the first student in Clan Carthy’s 36-year history to obtain eight grade ones in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, and with six straight ‘A’ profiles to boot.

“I don’t think I can explain the feeling. The feeling is like a pandemonium,” the father told the

Jamaica Observer by phone from his home in the Cayman Islands.

“When he called me the night, I had just left work and was eating dinner. He video called and said, ‘Daddy, your son is legendary,’” the elder Campbell reported. “The entire family was just so proud of him.”

Javanney obtained grades one in: English A, geography, human and social biology, information technology, mathematics, principles of business, social studies and Spanish. The son admits to being very disappointed when he was placed at Clan Carthy, saying that he lost focus because of the friends that he made in grade five. However, in retrospect, given the chance, he wouldn’t change a thing.

“After coming here and seeing the passion by my teachers, it inspired me to work harder. I don’t regret coming to Clan Carthy. I strongly believe that it’s not where you go, it’s what you want to do and what you want to achieve, and your drive for where and what you want,” he said.

Since then, he has always performed at the top of his class and has set standards for his classmates. This standard, he says, formed part of his motivation to do well at the external examinations.

“I wanted to inspire people and set a standard because, over the years, I’ve been setting standards here so I just wanted to leave something behind as a legacy for them to follow. I’m just happy that I did that,” he told

Career & Education.

The motive was to prove everyone who berates non-traditional high schools wrong, including family members who constantly compared him to his older brother.

“It took determination. It took dedication to your work. [I] had to have a mindset that I wanted to be successful. I wanted to prove the entire Jamaica wrong, that good can come out of Clan Carthy and I really wanted to prove my family wrong that I am up to the standard of my brother and I am better than my brother. And I did prove that,” he said.

“At one point I obtained an 88 per cent average and they were saying that my 88 per cent here was 20 per cent at KC, so I really wanted to prove them wrong. That drove me to just push myself,” he continued.

An integral part of his success, Javanney says, has been the competitive but loving relationship between himself and his older brother.

“My brother also played an integral role in making me into who I am today. He has always been setting standards for me to break. He has always been there for me when I needed him, he has never told me ‘No’. I think he was very interested in my well-being and education as much as my parents and myself. I always refer to him as my ‘local father’ due to fact he plays the fatherly role in the absence of my father. I love him and he has always motivated me to just do me and aim high, and he is a part of the reason for my success in the recent CSEC exams,” said Campbell.

Attaining this success was not easy, however. Not only did the 16-year-old have to contend with the negative stigma attached to his school, he recalled days in lower forms where there was no lunch money for him to attend classes.

“I was very poor. On some days I didn’t have lunch money but my grandmother was there. My grandmother would always give me $100 to go to school. That was just my bus fare just to come to school, up to nine grade,” said the teen who lives in Bull Bay, St Andrew.

“But I came here and did my best,” he continued.

In addition to regular timetabled lessons, he attended review classes at school and woke up in the wee hours of the morning to complete assignments, all of which helped him to prepare for the exams. He also maintained a balance between his academics and the many extra-curricular involvements he was a part of. He was president of the JPS Energy Club and the Debate Club and was also a member of the Interact Club and Spanish Club. This, while being a senior prefect. How did he balance his school work, co-curricular involvements and his student leader responsibility? Javanney said he focused on the tasks that were most urgent first.

“I just tried my best to devote time. When things are to be done, I tried my best to get it done,” he said.

And although the young man has consistently performed well, he didn’t think he could have produced as good a result as he did.

“I’ve always said it, but I didn’t really think it was possible. Throughout the years I’ve emerged as top student, but for CXC I didn’t think it was possible for me to get eight ones. Not because I am not bright enough, but I just thought that there must be some errors,” he said, confessing that he had somehow allowed the disparaging comments about non-traditional high schools to seep into his psyche.

Still, in retrospect, Campbell, who wants to become an entrepreneur and a flight dispatcher, believes he could have pulled off eight straight ‘A’ profiles “if I tried harder”.

His list of intra-school awards include subject prizes, principal’s honour roll, top student and the title of Mr Clan Carthy in 2015. Externally, he has won the Peace and Love in Schools Scholarship twice (2014, 2016), won gold medal at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commision festival competition in 2014 and was selected last year to participate in an exchange programme between Jamaica and China. The programme was however, cancelled. In November, he will receive the top student award for his school from the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools.

Clan Carthy Principal Hazel Cameron said that Javanney’s achievement shows the progress being made by the institution and the thrust to produce quality graduates.

“It signals that we can produce students who are of traditional high school calibre and quality. It means that we are growing and progressing as an institution. It means that our teachers are committed and continue to work hard to ensure that our students reach their highest potential… So it means that we have some way to go because we do not want [a single] outstanding student, we want to have many more outstanding students and it is achievable,” she told

Career & Education.

She said that in her 11 years as principal, the institution has done much to help students to fulfill the motto of “hit[ting] the star at the highest point”.

“Right now we are doing all we can to ensure that students do their best. We put programmes in place [such as] feeding programmes. We assist them with take-home meals. We give free classes on Saturday, Sundays, late evenings and so on. And those students who are committed are usually the students who do well, because we have that sort of programme to facilitate,” she explained.

The principal said that the school administration expected nothing less than excellence of Javanney.

“I admire him because he is well-mannered, principled, respectful and if he continues to plug into his own life the sort of diligence he shows in his school work then I am sure he will continue to do all the best,” she said.

Campbell hopes the stigma associated with non-traditional high schools will soon evaporate. In his view, it is having detrimental effects on the students.

“Because of what people have to say about the school and say to students out in the society, they might feel a little depressed and not confident about themselves because they believe that, judging by the history of the school, it (excellence) is unattainable,” says the teen, adding that he often receives comments of disbelief and even doubt that he obtained eight ones while attending Clan Carthy.

“No one is brilliant and no one is dunce. You just have to try and work hard for what you want,” he said. “Do not beat down your child for passing for a ‘non-traditional’ high school.”

The youngster is currently pursuing five CAPE subjects at Kingston College, as Clan Carthy’s programme doesn’t offer some of the subjects he wishes to do. At the end of sixth form, he hopes to attend Mona School of Business at The University of the West Indies. As for advice to students who attend non-traditional high schools, he says: “Just do your best, work very hard and never mind the circumstances. Just try to do your best.”