‘Future footballer, engineer’ Jeremiah’s plan: ‘practice’

Jeremiah Browne, the top boy in this year’s Common Entrance Exam said his near-perfect marks came from sticking to his plan to become a high achiever.

Moments after it was announced Monday that the St Stephen’s Primary School pupil scored 99 in English and 98 in Mathematics to gain him a place at Queen’s College, he told Barbados TODAY that the long hours of studying have paid off.

“I couldn’t have gotten here if I didn’t practice,” a proud Jeremiah declared with dad Jeremy, himself a senior teacher at St Stephen’s Primary, and mother Melissa, by his side.

Jeremy Browne described his son as a disciplined child who always takes pride in his studies and is committed to doing what is needed for him to achieve excellence.

The father said that while his child, like other students, did not have a perfect online learning experience, his teacher Nataline Conliffe went “above and beyond” to make sure Browne and his peers enjoyed their experience.

Beaming mum Melissa Browne said based on Jeremiah’s past achievements she always expected that he would make it into the top 10 performers and that he always aimed to score 100 per cent in his examinations.

A quality assurance laboratory tester at West Indies Rum, she said: “Hearing him as the top boy was yes surprising, but still not surprising and I can’t explain it better than that. This is my first boy, and I am very proud of him. I would always tell stories of him getting up early on mornings and getting ready for school and packing his bag and his brother’s bag and his sister’s bag and everything lined up at the door.

“If he determines that he wants to leave home at 7 o’clock, at 5 o’clock in the morning he is up and he would clean, and he would pack his bag and prepare himself. If he has his mind set on something, he prepares for it. He is a very applied child.”

As for his career plans, the 11-year-old said that from since age seven, he knew he wanted to be a professional footballer. But the midfielder, who is hoping to one day be recruited by an international team, is also exploring the possibility of a career as an engineer.

He said that while he was leaving the celebration plans up to his parents, he just wants to spend an entire day playing and unwinding with friends.

And he has already set his sights on becoming a Barbados Scholar, he said.

Teacher Conliffe told Barbados TODAY that she was proud of Jeremiah’s and his classmates’ performance. She said that out of her 20 students, 15 students passed for Queen’s College, two are headed to Harrison College and three are going to Combermere.

Conliffe said that while the past school year has been difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she made learning online fun and interesting and was committed to ensuring that no child was left behind and that they all received the same instruction.

She said even when face-to-face teaching resumed for Class 4 students last term, she put in extra time working after hours with students who were experiencing difficulties.

Conliffe said: “Jeremiah has grown over the past two years. He is very dedicated. Jeremiah was interested in work. Even though I would give homework Jeremiah would come to me and say, ‘Ma’am, can you give me an extra?’ He always wanted to go an extra mile and I thought that was a good attribute to have and that is responsible for his success today.”

(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)