Creative Kids Learning Academy students named Jamaica’s top PEP boy and girl

Kingston-based Creative Kids Learning Academy has produced Jamaica’s national top boy and top girl in this year’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations — Naraj Sahukar and Zuri Cousins.

Founder and principal Haiti K. Holmes joined the students in a television interview to mark the achievement. Sahukar said he felt overwhelmed with joy and deep gratitude, calling it an honour and expressing pride in his hard work and dedication. On hearing the results, he described his reaction as “half and half” — surprised and very happy.

Cousins said she felt “over the moon” and proud when she learned she was top girl, adding that she was surprised but “not really surprised.” Holmes noted that both students had performed strongly in Grades Four and Five, and that Cousins achieved perfect scores on the Grade Five PEP assessments. Grade Six, she said, was “the icing on the cake.”

Sahukar said his aim had been to pass for Campion College and do well on the exam, not to become the top student in Jamaica. He said he did not feel pressured and felt confident — and that he did pass for Campion. Cousins, who also balances track, photography and math Olympiad pursuits, said she usually completed those activities after preparing for PEP, or sometimes did activities first and focused on homework later in the day. She described feeling some pressure because of competing demands, which she managed by breaking tasks into segments. She is also headed to Campion.

Asked about high school, both students spoke of excitement mixed with pressure. Looking ahead, Sahukar said he has several career interests, including becoming a doctor to help people, as well as entrepreneurship and technology. Cousins said she is drawn toward photography, along with the arts and science.

Holmes credited the school’s growth to an excellent team that shares her vision, naming staff including Auntie Dion, vice principal Mr. Lee, Miss Percy, Miss Mac and Miss Percy Junior. She said the academy continually returns to the drawing board to correct mistakes and support students, stressing that confidence comes first — without belief in themselves, she argued, children will not perform no matter how much they are taught. The school operates from addresses on Winter Avenue, including Nos. 23, 18 and now 16.