D’Aundre Samuel of St Joseph’s Academy has been officially named the top CSEC student for the June 2023 sitting of the exams.
Securing 21 grade ones and two grade twos from his 23 subjects, Samuel placed ahead of fellow schoolmate, Adrian Judnarine, who placed second with 19 grade ones and seven grade twos from 26 subjects.
Baptist Academy’s Stephanie Archibald and Tianna Bretne both placed third with 18 grade ones and two grades twos each from their 20 subjects.
Samuel told Observer that he was “ecstatic” upon receiving the news.
“I’m overjoyed that I have emerged the top CSEC student on the island and congratulations to everyone else who did their best,” he said.
Samuel, who is currently studying at the Antigua State College in the Department of Liberal Arts focusing on science and mathematics, is aiming to be an engineer and thanked his family and school for their support.
St Joseph’s Academy Principal Rudolph Davis commended Samuel and Judnarine for their academic efforts throughout their years at the school.
“On behalf of St Joseph’s Academy, the school board, the teachers, the student body, I just like to heartily congratulate these two students for making SJA proud and bringing that bacon home to St Joseph’s Academy,” he said.
Davis noted their academic resilience and determination during their five years at the school.
Director of Education, Clare Browne, also offered congratulations to the students, their parents and their schools, stating that “we beseech that these students continue to be ambassadors of excellence”.
The delay in the announcement of the top students was due to at least two querying their grades, following the close results.
“At least two of them would have queried grades that we were looking at as the top contenders, and we had to allow for the query process to be completed and for CXC to determine whether they were going to adjust any of the grades that were initially preliminarily submitted,” Browne explained.