Thu | May 2, 2024

Brilliant Michaela!

Marymount student excelling in all areas

Published:Wednesday | December 27, 2023 | 12:08 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Lisa Vassel (left), a past student, hands top student Michaela Lawrence one of her many awards at the Marymount High School’s recent prizegiving.
Contributed
Lisa Vassel (left), a past student, hands top student Michaela Lawrence one of her many awards at the Marymount High School’s recent prizegiving.

STUDENTS OFTENTIMES excel academically when their parents, mothers especially, are employed to the school they attend.

Michaela Lawrence of Marymount High School in Cromwelland, Highgate, St Mary, is one fine example. Her excellence, however, has also spread to include extracurricular activities.

“She’s my princess!” exclaimed mom, Renee Lawrence, vice principal at Marymount, as she basked in the achievements of her daughter who is being celebrated the top student at the school’s recent prize-giving ceremony. And rightly so.

At the prize-giving ceremony, Michaela was celebrated as the top student, boasting an average of 92.35 for her eight subjects.

In six of those subjects, she scored over 90 per cent, and over 80 per cent in two.

Michaela has placed first in her class from grade seven up to grade 10 and has been celebrated as the top student at Marymount for four consecutive years.

A prefect, Michaela has displayed excellent school spirit through her involvement in several clubs, including GEMS, Inter-School Christian Fellowship, Foreign Language, Science and Environment, and STEM.

Her brilliance doesn’t stop there. She has been impacting her community in various ways, which led to her being nominated for the St Mary Parish Youth Awards.

FIRST PLACE

In 2022, she won the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Child Labour Video Competition, and also captured first place in the JAMCOPY, JAMMS, and JACAP copyright video competition.

Earlier this year, in the 4H Electronic Generated Poster Competition, Michaela placed first at the parish level and second at the national level.

Her exploits saw her being featured on Smile Jamaica’s Weekend Smile on TVJ.

Her advocacy of child labour was recognised globally when she was one of five winners of the Halifax International Security Forum’s 15@15: Youth Building Democracy Competition in November. This achievement earned her a feature on CBC: The National, a highly rated news and current affairs programme in Canada.

Michaela’s brilliance is grounded in her Christian faith, and she believes that God has a divine plan for her life.

She is also actively engaged in the youth department at her church, where she is a member of the church’s media team.