KINGSTON, Jamaica — Four students who recently sat the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exam were on Tuesday awarded Norris Crooks Scholarships valued at $30,000 each by the Kiwanis Club of Barbican.

The Norris Crooks Scholarship provides financial and textbook assistance to deserving students from Trafalgar Christian Preparatory, New Hope Preparatory and Melrose Primary and Junior High. This year’s awardees were Jaia Lee Jones, Jaecia Thomas, Sarah Guthrie and Kennedy Martin.

“Thank you for awarding me with this scholarship, and I promise I will excel in school and do my best and continue to shine and grow for God. I want to thank my mother, my friends, my family, everybody, and the Kiwanis Club,” said scholarship recipient Jones.

Richard Rowe, past president of the Kiwanis Club of Barbican, said typically, only three recipients are awarded the scholarship yearly, but there was one applicant who was awarded based on humanitarian grounds.

“There were a number of criteria that we looked at to make sure we were selecting the right students. The scholarship is $30,000, and it would be $90,000 in total for three students. However, this year, having gone through the rigours to select from, I think it was six applications that came in, we recognised that there were three that were outstanding, but then there was one that presented a case— a case on humanitarian grounds, and of course, being the person I am, I thought this individual and her family should be acknowledged,” Rowe said.

(Video: Llewellyn Wynter)