Seventeen-year-old Breanna Julal of Glenmuir High School walked away with the coveted title of 2017 Outstanding Caribbean Child Researcher at the 12th staging of the Caribbean Child Research Conference.
The upper sixth form student presented her research on, An Investigative Study into the Impact of Gang-Related Sexual Grooming on the Academic Performance of Teenage Girls in the Community of Highgate Gardens. She also secured the award, top female researcher; and the sectional prize, Best Oral Presentation, which received a perfect score from the judging panel.
“It was a great honour to have been selected as a top ten finalist in the competition, and I am over the moon to have won. I am very grateful for my teacher, Mrs. Patricia Meikle, for her guidance with this project, and my family for their unending support and constant encouragement,” Julal said.
Dr Marsha Smalling, principal at Glenmuir High School, said that she had no doubt that Julal would excel in the competition, as she has consistently recorded outstanding performances throughout her years, earning the Principal’s Honour Roll and achieving Grade Ones in 10 CSEC and 4 CAPE subjects.
“Breanna has been on the up and up since her placement at Glenmuir. When I was told that she was selected to represent the school at the Caribbean Child Research Conference, I exuded a lot of confidence in her ability to stand out and to be victorious as she possesses the characteristics of a champion: grit, meticulousness, confidence, and a high level of self-efficacy.We are absolutely proud of her accomplishments, and we are confident that she will continue to blaze the flame of excellence in all her pursuits,” Smalling said.
The Caribbean Child Research Conference is a regional interdisciplinary conference covering a range of child-related themes. It is hosted in Jamaica by the Institute of Social and Economic Studies and aims to share research on children, strengthen the network of researchers on children’s issues and encourages research both in priority areas and in other important but neglected areas.