GoodHeart | St Elizabeth teen earns $100,000 prize for academic excellence

If you are a betting person, the numbers 11, 16, 17 and 100,000 may or may not have any significance to you, but for St Elizabeth teen Akayla Simpson, they hold tremendous value. The Aberdeen High School graduate is 17, the last of 11 children, and left school with 16 subjects and a $100,000 cash prize.

On top of being named the 2026 class valedictorian, Simpson won the Carl Williams Prize for Home Economics, awarded to the student who received the highest grade in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). The award was jointly sponsored by Danrak Productions and Wisynco.

“I am really grateful and excited to be honoured with this award. It means a lot to me and my family, and it’s definitely going to help me to pursue my dreams. Thank you to Miss Stacy for doing this, and thanks to the teachers at Aberdeen High for everything you did to help me achieve my goals so far,” said Simpson as she addressed the awards ceremony held at the school on Monday.

In addition to receiving the top score in home economics for the Class of 2026, Simpson also came first in mathematics, Spanish, English, biology, chemistry, visual arts, as well as food, nutrition and health. She also has passes at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in entrepreneurship units 1 and 2, and City and Guilds distinctions in mathematics and English A. Simpson, who wants to become a teacher, is now enrolled at the Mico University College.

“Akayla has done extremely well, and we are very proud. Our programme here at Aberdeen has been delivering strong results. Of the 21 subjects offered at CSEC this year, we had 100 per cent passes in 12 subjects. We have been working steadily towards our goals, and we’re reaping the rewards. We want other corporate sponsors and individuals like Miss Smith to see the hard work and to come on board to support and encourage our students to continue to strive for excellence,” said Aberdeen High School principal Audley Feare.

The Carl Williams Prize, which is in its inaugural year, was established by Danrak Productions chief executive officer and author Stacy-Ann Smith in honour of her late father. Launched to coincide with the release of her audiobook Time Does Not Heal on Caribbean audiobook platform, Odiyo, Smith said the award is her way of giving back in a manner that reflected her father’s passion and commitment.

“He spent the last 13 years of his life in Aberdeen, serving the church as a deacon, serving the citizens’ association, the senior citizens’ association, and even the police youth club. At one point, when he said he was president of the youth club, I said, ‘Daddy, den yuh no too old to be president of the youth club?’ And his response was, ‘Girl, you’re never too old to serve’. So that was the kind of example we had,” she explained.

Smith said her father was deeply committed to giving back and placed a strong emphasis on the value of education, passing that belief on to all his children: “So, this award is a perfect way to honour his memory and to give back to the community where he found so much joy in the final season of his life.”

Time Does Not Heal explores the deliberate pursuit of mental and emotional well-being, drawing on Smith’s experience during one of the darkest seasons of life.

“The central message of the book was and still remains the same – time alone does not heal. It’s the actions that you take in time that make you well. I’m hoping that the audiobook will capture a bigger audience, helping more people to change their mindset about mental and emotional well-being,” asserted Smith.

goodheart@gleanerjm.com