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Posted By: Marty Best Brains Recognized - 11/07/12 12:55 PM
The names of Belize's top students in this year's C-SEC and CAPE Exams have been released.

Dorien Villafranco from Saint John's Juniour College did the best on CAPE and so he wins the Belize Scholarship for 2012. Villafranco - who was also the top CSEC candidate two years ago - earned six Grade I's in Caribbean Studies, Communication Studies, Physics Units 1 and 2, and Pure Mathematics Units 1 and 2.

In the high school's CSEC exam, Juana Meza of Stann Creek Ecumenical College received the most outstanding candidate. She earned thirteen Grade one's at the General Proficiency in: Biology, Chemistry, English A and B), Information Technology, Mathematics, Physics, Religious Education, Social Studies, Spanish, Physical Education and Sport, Human and Social Biology and Electrical and Electronic Technology and two Grade three's in Caribbean History and Economics.

Meza also achieved first place in the Sciences Subject Group and first in Spanish in Belize. Kaylyn Habet of St Catherine Academy obtained second place in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate. She had twelve Grade ones at the General Proficiency in Biology, English A and B, Information Technology, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Office Administration, Physics, Social Studies, Spanish, Physical Education and Sport and Human and Social Biology and one Grade two in Chemistry.

Today 7 news spoke with the Dean of St Johns Junior college who told us that three of their students took first, second and thirst place for the CAPE examinations.

Mirta Peralta, Dean SJCJC
"There of them sat 6 CAPE examinations; Dorian having all grade 1s for pure mathematics unit 1 and 2; for physics and Caribbean Studies and Communication Studies, so it was remarkable. We are so proud of them, we are very proud of our teachers. we are also proud of the other students that we are also receiving individual awards for 15 out of the 28 subjects - individual subjects, we are also proud of those students."

"We are also very proud because here at St. John's College it is not only about the academic excellence but also about the holistic education; it is about the extracurricular activities and we feel that that is our mission and that is exactly what we do here. We have forums, we have spiritual activities to enhance, again not only the academics but also the spiritual - the holistic approach of education."

"We also want to invite all students from across the country because Dorien Villafranco is actually from Belmopan, so we attract students from across the country every year, but again we want to invite these students to come to SJC, we welcome them to come. We also ask parents from across the country to come in, to query, to find out what SJC is about and so we invite them to be a part of our SJC family."

The Eighteenth Annual CXC National Awards Ceremony is scheduled to be held on November 22 at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts.

Channel 7

Posted By: Marty Re: Best Brains Recognized - 11/23/12 03:08 PM

Best, Brightest CSEC, CAPE Students Honoured

Very often, youths exhibiting antisocial behavior become the subject of the headlines in our nightly newscast.

But, while they get the headlines, they don't represent the whole because a there's a super-majority of Belizean youths who excel and do right every day.

So today, when the Ministry held a ceremony in honor of this year's top CSEC examination performers 7News attended and caught up with a few of these bright young people.

Here's what they had to say about the award ceremony, and about their plans to further their education:

Mireli Solis - 3rd Place, CSEC Examinations 2012
"Well, I just went over the program, and I'm getting a plaque. So, I guess I wasn't coming here with the expectations of getting anything big, but a plaque is nice, and it's nice to know that you're getting recognized for your work."

Daniel Ortiz
"Tell us a little bit about how much effort it took to actually perform excellently in the CSEC."

Mireli Solis
"Well, I had to go through a rigorous course work throughout the year. I had to pay attention in all my classes; I had a lot of work to do. I had a lot of homework to do; I had to a lot of independent studying, since I took some subjects independently. Before the exams I had to review again, so I was a lot of work. I mean I took my breaks as I saw the need to, but I feel that it paid off - that my work payed off."

Daniel Ortiz
"How many exams did you actually take?"

Mireli Solis
"I took 14 exams. I got 12 grade ones and 2 grade twos."

Daniel Ortiz
"I was once a CXC student as well, and taking independent exams is a difficult thing. How do you actually achieve spreading your time over all these other subjects?"

Mireli Solis
"The teachers were a big help because they were the people who were there after hours with us. Right now, I'm doing biology and chemistry. I want to go into DNA analysis in forensic science, and that's all I have planned for now. I'm just trying to take it one step at a time to get through 6th form first, and then hopefully to go abroad and study."

Dorien Villafranco - 1st Place, CAPE 2012
"I think it's all about preparation, you know. I think that you have to have a good work ethic, and a good preparation for the exams. I must say that my teachers prepared me well, and also a support group from all my family, friends, parents and others."

Daniel Ortiz
"What are your plans now?"

Dorien Villafranco
"I'm actually studying at Saint Luke's University right now, trying to get a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. I should be graduating in 2015, so that's the plan for right now."

Daniel Ortiz
"Will you be coming back to Belize?"

Dorien Villafranco
"Hopefully, you know that our tourism industry is very dependent on the aviation industry, so hopefully, we can make some strides there, in terms of developing the aviation industry further here in Belize."

Juana Teresa Meza - 1st Place, CSEC 2012
"I have big dreams. I plan to graduate from Saint John's - hopefully - finish my bachelor's degree, and then go on to medical school, and hopefully after that, if I have the grades and the money and the grades, study to be a surgeon. It's a huge advancement for my family concerning my background. It's not the common middle class family, so they're really excited that somebody in the family gets to - I guess - to go higher in education."

It is important to note that Juana Mesa took 15 CXC's exams and achieved 13 Grade 1's and 2 Grade 3's. Dorien Villafranco, who was the top performer in the CXC's 2 years ago, was again the top performer in CAPE. He took 6 exams and achieved Grade 1's in all of them.

Channel 7

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