SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — When 11-year-old Jasonnia Beadle received news that she was the top primary school student in this year’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams she was surprised at her achievement. And she was not alone, as her parents and teachers at Park Mountain Primary and Infant school here were equally amazed, yet jubilant.

It was an achievement celebrated, too, by the Ministry of Education as testament to the resilience of students in the hurricane-ravaged parish which is still recovering from last October’s Hurricane Melissa.

Jasonnia is set to attend the iconic all-girls’ Hampton School in Malvern, St Elizabeth.