BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – STUDENTS of the Dr. William Connor Primary School tested their wit and recalled skills on Monday afternoon (June 7) during the school’s Jacquelin Pemberton Inter-House Grade Six Quiz.
The Island Purified Water-sponsored scholastic showdown involved the school’s four sports houses – the Jaguars, Panthers, Pumas and the Tigers.
The quiz was split into four rounds, each of which dealt with a specific subject area (Math, Science, language arts and social studies). The houses competed in teams of two, with individual teammates receiving three questions apiece and then working together on a group question.
Though the defending champs, Panthers, fought valiantly, they only managed to place second behind the Jaguars, the winners with 72 points to the Panthers’ 66.
Khanisa Martin (Jaguars) was recognised as the Most Outstanding Quizzer, while her teammate Iansha Henry and Khalifa Pencheon of the Panthers tied for the runner-up position.
All eight students received a participatory trophy, while Martin, Henry and Pencheon claimed individual trophies for their accomplishments. The Jaguars were also awarded a plaque for their victorious effort.
The annual quiz, now in its fourth edition, was the brainchild of Principal Anthony Wiltshire, who told SKNVibes that the competition was meant to sharpen the minds of students in preparation for their upcoming Test of Standards.
Those exams determine the class stream a student enters upon his/her transition to secondary school.
“When I was principal at Sandy Point Primary, we established a similar quiz in honour of the late Rosalyn Warner, a former headmistress. When I was transferred to Dr. William Connor, I thought it a good idea to start the initiative in a new school.
“We get the quiz questions from exam past papers. We look at it as a precursor to the tests; this is a chance for students to see what’s coming and what they should study,” Wiltshire explained.
The principal noted that as a result of the quiz, the students were performing better on the annual examinations, as some of the questions were repeated on the actual test.
The competition is named after Jacquelin Pemberton, a former teacher at the school who is now employed at the Ministry of Labour.
