Former Godfrey Stewart High School student cops 10 CSEC passes

Seventeen-year-old Joyel Ricketts is celebrating a major academic milestone, having successfully passed seven subjects in the 2025 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

Combined with three subjects earned in earlier grades, she now holds passes in a total of 10 subjects.

"When I opened the portal and I saw my results I was very proud of myself, because I knew that I worked hard for what came out," Joyel shares with JIS News.

The former student of Godfrey Stewart High School in Westmoreland earned Grade Ones in English Language, Social Studies, and Food and Nutrition. She also secured Grade Twos in History and Literature, and Grade Threes in Information Technology and Office Administration.

Her 10 subjects also include three she successfully completed prior to fifth form: Electronic Document Preparation and Management (EDPM) and Physical Education, both with Grade Twos in the ninth grade, and Human and Social Biology (HSB), also with a Grade Two, in the tenth grade.

While she earned a Grade Four in Mathematics, Joyel remains determined to improve and continue her academic journey.

"It was a challenging subject going into the exam, but I will re-sit it," she affirms.

The aspiring corporate lawyer acknowledges that her academic journey carried added layers of expectation, given that her mother, Emily Lawrence-Ricketts, serves as Principal of Godfrey Stewart High School.

"Having my mom as Principal was definitely not easy. Teachers expected a lot from me, [and] I had to live up to those expectations knowing that I was in that position throughout my entire high school [journey]. It really benefited me, because I knew there were teachers out there really looking out for me and saying that I [needed] to work my hardest each and every year," young Joyel explains.

She added that, among her peers, she often felt the weight of intense scrutiny.

"People were always saying that, because I'm the Principal's daughter, this happens, and because I'm the Principal's daughter, I have to do this and I have to do that. But mostly, the expectations came from the teachers," she notes.

Even under intense pressure, Joyel radiates pride--her results reflect the hard work and determination she has poured into every step of her high school career.

"I'm always going to feel very proud of myself, because I know I worked hard during my years of high school; so yes, that work has been shown in my results," she says.

Looking ahead to the 2025/26 academic year, Joyel is set to begin sixth form at Hampton School in St. Elizabeth in September, having been accepted into the Law programme--a pivotal step in her pursuit of a career in corporate law.

She hopes this next chapter will bring her closer to realising her dream of becoming a corporate lawyer, and encourages other students to remain focused, resilient, and open to growth--even when the path feels uncertain.

"You just need to breathe... there's no reason to stress about anything. If you know that you have studied enough, then you just have to remember everything and equip yourself when you go into that examination. Just know that [if] you pray to God, [and] you have faith, whatever you ask for, it will be given unto you," Joyel declares.

Meanwhile, her proud mother, Emily Lawrence-Ricketts, reflects on the experience of watching her daughter balance academic demands with the heightened expectations that accompanied her unique position within the school community.

"She [was] always... a part of the honour roll, because she [worked] very hard. I believe, because she [attended] my school, the expectations [were] so high that sometimes you figure [that] she [had] to do more than what [was] required," she tells JIS News.

Lawrence-Ricketts also acknowledges that balancing the dual roles of school leader and mother to Joyel was not always easy.

"I personally believe sometimes [Joyel] felt like I would have been [demanding] on her too much. But being the Principal at school and at home, I had to try my best not to be Principal when I got home because, then, she was expecting her mother and not the Principal," she shares.

Joyel's academic journey has been strongly supported by her family, including her father, Dalton Ricketts--a proud alumnus of Godfrey Stewart High School--and her older brother, who now serves as a medical doctor.

"Her father, myself, and Akeem [Joyel's brother], we spend time talking to her about [her] weak areas, asking her what we can do, and so on. So the weak areas that she would have, [the] family... talks about [how these] can be fixed, and we try as much as possible to fix [them]," Mrs. Lawrence-Ricketts explains.

She proudly shares that Joyel is among several students from Godfrey Stewart High School who excelled in the 2025 CSEC examinations.

- JIS

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