Principal of Holy Family Infant and Primary School, Cecille Palmer, shows off her Woman of Great Esteem Award. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Cecille Palmer, the principal of Holy Family Infant and Primary School, who despite the odds successfully guided her students through the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) this year, has been honoured with the United States-based Kingdom Ministries' Woman of Great Esteem Award.

Palmer said she was pleased to be in the company of past recipients of the award, such as Portia Simpson Miller and Dr Blossom O'Meally-Nelson.

"I accepted the award with humility on behalf of the school's dedicated band of teachers and the school community in which I work," the Holy Family principal told The Gleaner at a luncheon organised by The MultiCare Foundation yesterday.

The luncheon was held to honour Palmer for her outstanding service and commitment to her school and community.

After a school year marred by numerous incidents of violence in their vicinity, students at Holy Family recorded remarkable successes when the GSAT results were recently released. Palmer said the successes came as a result of hard work and dedication from teachers, other members of staff and students who wanted to do well.

"Last year the boys had out-performed the girls at the school but, this year, results have shown that the girls have caught up," Palmer noted.

She went on to say the grades for communication task have been on a steady increase over the last five years and this year was no different as the school saw an increase in the grades for that subject.

Violence

Because of the violence in the area, the school, located in central Kingston, was closed for a number of days just before the examinations, hampering students' preparations.

Tashana Blair, the Holy Family student who was awarded the Scotiabank Foundation Scholarship for being the top student in Surrey, was also honoured by The MultiCare Foundation during the luncheon, held at the ICD Group Limited head office, in Kingston.

Palmer, when asked about the violence that has been affecting the school, said: "I condemn the violence that took place over the couple of months. We are now in the healing process and are now enjoying an atmosphere of peace and camaraderie, and I hope we never stoop so low to that level ever again."