Foster parent beams as genius daughter aces PEP

After losing her third daughter, Sharon* opened her home to a baby girl who was living in state care when she was almost one year old - she never imagined she was raising a genius.

Yesterday, that child made Sharon one of the proudest mothers in Jamaica. Stacy-Ann* now 12, walked away with the top national female award in the 2025 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) Awards, hosted by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston. This year, 182 children in state care sat the PEP exams, and were recognised.

"When mi hear say is she win, mi tremble same way like mi did deh up there. A not even me, but mi nervous same way," Sharon said with a burst of energy after the ceremony. "Mi proud so til! A nuh me get dem, but mi feel like she get them fi me." Sharon vividly remembered the day she welcomed the little girl into her home in 2011.

"From we first get her from CDA (referring to the Child Development Agency, the CPFSA's former name) when she was almost one, we coulda tell that she was bright. She never watch cartoon like other pickney. She prefer book. All now, yuh can't get her sit down in front of a TV," Sharon said.

Raising Stacy-Ann wasn't easy financially, but Sharon said she always knew the child deserved a fair chance.

"She grew up with my little grandson and mi used to babysit one church member little son. So mi did have three of them at home. I wanted to send her to prep school when she was three, but mi neva did a work. Then mi say, 'You know what? A God inna this'. And we sent her to a basic school. First time mi send her, we couldn't even buy the uniform, but one neighbour step in and said she would make it. The lady never charge mi a cent. Mi buy the shoes, and from deh so it was onward. At basic school it was pure 100. She and one little boy, 100 right through," Sharon said.

According to Sharon, community members and the church family also pitched in, making sure Stacy-Ann had whatever she needed.

"She never miss school one day. All when rain fall, hail fall, even when she sick, she gone. Teacher call mi one day say, 'Yuh know the child come school sick?' Mi tell her, 'Miss, mi can't stop her.'"

For Stacy-Ann, preparing for PEP was second nature.

"I had no major challenges because I was always studying. It came naturally to me," she told THE WEEKE ND STAR with a shy smile. Asked how she felt when her name was announced as the national female awardee, Stacy-Ann beamed.

"I felt amazing because I knew the others did well too. I was really nervous just waiting to hear if it was me."

Looking ahead to high school, the young scholar said, "I just want to keep doing well until I decide what I want to become in the future."

Outside of school, she enjoys chatting with her friends and sharing ideas. But Sharon revealed with a laugh, "She love har food. She will bawl fi her food."

"She is my foster daughter, and mi a try adopt her. I have four girls, but mi third daughter died, so Stacy woulda be the fifth. Growing her never rough. She nuh give trouble, she nuh go out a door," Sharon explained. Sharon was adamant that the Almighty was the reason for Stacy-Ann's success.

"No money nuh do this. Mi don't think a money do this. Is just by the grace of God. And you know when God say Him provide for you, Him just create a way," Sharon said proudly.

*Names changed to protect identities