TWO students from hurricane-ravaged sections of Jamaica, who continued their studies at Immaculate Conception High School in St Andrew, have been commended by permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education Dr Kasan Troupe, for their dedication and resilience.

Shevanese Lopez and Khaydene Campbell were recognised at Immaculate’s 2026 graduating ceremony held at the institution on Sunday.

Troupe commended the students and their families for taking the chance in approaching one of the top secondary-level institutions in Jamaica when the schools they attended sustained damage during the hurricane.

She also saluted the principal and board of Immaculate for accommodating the students.

“This is the kind of support we get from our principals,” said Troupe.

Lopez, who transferred from St Hilda’s Diocesan High School in St Ann, told JIS News that after Hurricane Melissa, the school took a while to restart and her parents made the decision to move her to Immaculate so that her studies would not be disrupted as she prepared for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.

While apprehensive at first, she said she was made to feel very welcome at Immaculate and grew to love the institution as much as St Hilda’s.

The tall netballer, who said she was on the Principal’s Honour Roll at her former institution, sat three CSEC subjects in grade 10 — English language, Grade Two; mathematics, Grade Two; and information technology, Grade One.

She is awaiting results for Spanish, additional mathematics, literature, chemistry, biology, physics and English language, which she resat “to get a grade one”.

Lopez plans to continue her studies in the sciences and pursue a degree in forensic sciences.

Khaydene’s mother, Nadine Bartley Campbell, told JIS News that when her daughter, who attended the Manning’s School in Westmoreland, was out of school for six weeks, she and her husband knew something had to be done.

“She’s a science student and the labs were destroyed [which would make her exam preparations difficult],” she explained.

After gaining a place at Immaculate, they arranged for her to stay with an uncle in Kingston.

Bartley Campbell said she is proud of her daughter, noting that in her exam preparations she deleted all of her social media accounts to focus on her studies.

“She started at a prestigious school, and she’s still at a prestigious school. I feel very proud of her. She has worked hard. She’s resilience personified. She did her labs; she did her SBAs [school-based assessments]. She had to redo some things but we are proud that she stood steadfast,” added Bartley Campbell.

— JIS