POINT, Hanover — Hard work and sacrifice, even when it meant staying away from all electronic devices, paid off for Kendal Primary School grade six student Abrielle Anderson who is Hanover Western’s overall Top Primary Exit Profile (PEP) test performer for 2024.

Abrielle, who received a score of 379.6 — the highest ever in the history of Hanover Western — was also recognised as Kendal Primary top student for her outstanding performance in this year’s PEP, Western Hanover PEP Top Performer 2024 for Social Studies, Western Hanover PEP Top Performer 2024 for Ability Test, and Top female student for 2024.

The Top Boy award went to Jevaughn Dennett who obtained a score of 368.6 — the highest ever in Hanover Western.

An elated Abrielle, who will be heading to Manning’s School in September, was lauded during the annual Hanover Western Constituency Top PEP Achievers awards ceremony held at the Grand Palladium Resort and Spa located at Point in Hanover on Sunday.

“I’m happy, surprised, and excited for the award that I got,” stated Abrielle. “I’m surprised because I did not think I could do it, but I have done it.”

Preparations for Abrielle meant that she would have to follow rules implemented by her mother who is an educator.

“Well, no electronics. That means I would stay focused and I would look over everything that I have learned and then use it back in the exams,” stated Abrielle, who did not take such a restriction well at first.

“I was upset for a while before but then I realised that it was for the best,” said the young girl who is yet to decide on a career path.

Abrielle had high praise for her teachers.

“My teachers want the best. They will always tell you that you can do your best. I have a teacher, she always says there is excellence within us,” relayed the top student.

Abrielle, who is looking forward to continuing her path of excellence in high school, had these words of encouragement for other students.

“Even if you do not think you can do it, always strive for excellence. Always believe in yourself,” she said.

Abrielle’s mother, Taneisha Donaldson Anderson, is happy with her daughter’s performance.

“It was a great experience for me. It wasn’t really a surprise to me that she actually did this well. Nevertheless, I am happy for all the awards that she received. I knew that this is something that she could actually do,” stated Donaldson-Anderson.

She said gadgets are her daughter’s main distraction, hence the need for the restriction set.

“Coming around to PEP, what I did was that I restricted her access to her gadgets, the cellphone, the laptop, because those are her main distractions. I really just took away those things. The rest of it, she did it on her own, basically, because, as I said, I knew that she was able to perform at this standard,” said Donaldson-Anderson.

She is giving her daughter time to decide on her career path.

“I will just leave her to it because I have two children and I realise that they both are different. My son is smaller than she is — eight years old — and he already knows what he wants to become and he has known that for a long time; but she goes at a different pace. I know that she will come into her own when she’s ready to determine what she wants to become and whatever she chooses, it will be fine by me,” said the proud mom.

Donaldson-Anderson, who is a high school teacher and past student of her daughter’s school, Kendal Primary, had high praise for the principal and her staff.

Kendal Primary School Principal Nicole Paisley-Stewart said the school has a population of 132 students and the 31 who sat PEP exam did well.

Paisley-Stewart said Abrielle is a leader, the current head girl and has always pushed to give her best.

“If there is something that she was not sure of, she would ask questions, whether it’s of her teacher or another teacher, just to confirm that she’s on the right track. She has always been that self-driven, self-motivated individual,” stated Paisley-Stewart.

The principal was also happy to know that Abrielle was not only the top performer for her school but Hanover Western. She is looking forward to continuing the trend.

“With God’s help, there are greater and bigger things to come. I’m imploring the parents out there, to choose Kendall Primary,” urged Paisley-Stewart.

Education officer within the Primary Supervision Unit of the Ministry of Education’s Region 4, Susan Simms, in her greetings, gave a comparison of students’ performance in this year’s PEP sitting within the constituency. It shows an overall improvement over previous years.

Member of Parliament for Hanover Western Tamika Davis said she is happy to know that Abrielle and the other awardees performed extremely well this year.

“It tells you that there’s a drive to achieve more. I want to think that because they know that this event [awards ceremony] is happening, it has caused them to buckle up and do more. I am proud of that. You can really tell that every year the grades get higher, the pass is better,” stated Davis, who noted that rural schools are putting up a fierce fight against coastal schools in the parish this year.

Among this year’s PEP awardees are Mikkalia Legister, Dre-Gregory Johnson, Kimora Lee Pinto, Lhea-Alyssa McDowell, Raheim Murray, Chrisania Mangol, Nicoya Barnett, April Wright Grant, Dejanae Pearce, Arianna Allen, Rushauna Chambers, Amara Allen, Dionne Allen, Daniella Scott, Sydan Campbell, Dejaun Jaydath, Alaine Powell, and Ryana Stewart.

A new category was added to this year’s programme in the form of the Arlene Campbell Memorial Education Grant which was issued to Riverside Primary School student Nevaeh Samuels, who will be attending Rusea’s High School in September.