Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

LINSTEAD, St Catherine:

AT AGE six, Julene Brown was unable to spell or write her name, so her mom Cheryl Jeffery sent her to a school where she received one-on-one attention.

Julene was enrolled at Linstead Primary and Junior High School at age seven and by the time she completed grade one, she was among the top performers in her class.

Now, as she prepares to sit the 2013 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), Julene is guided by the motto, 'Education Takes You Out of Poverty', coined by Jeffrey.

"That phrase just motivates me to know that my mother and father in the old time days, they were suffering and now I want to make something good of myself, so I can make their lives better," she told The Gleaner.

The 12-year-old, whose father, Jerol Brown, is a mason and a caretaker and her mother is a vendor, averaged 90 per cent at the end of grade five.

"I am working for a 98 and over per cent average, which I know will definitely take me to Campion College, my first choice," Julene said.

Her mom is confident that she will be able to attain that average.

"I expect her to get a good score in the GSAT because she has the ability and she studies a lot, she doesn't really like to do housework, is just her books she is interested in, so she can get the average she wants," said Jeffery.

Furthermore, her dad, who ensured that she got all her textbooks during the summer holidays, helped her to make a study timetable.

"During the summer, I also played less and studied more, and I also cut down on the amount of time that I watch television," she said.

Julene aspires to become a paediatrician or criminal lawyer. She enjoys reading, surfing the Internet and dancing.

rural@gleanerjm.com