2014 Top P.S.E. Scorer acknowledged by San Cas
A student from the Crooked Tree Government School topped this year’s Primary School Exams. It is an accomplishment that was achieved despite very difficult circumstances. But Ashton Tillett persevered and overcame all the hurdles that came his way. So today folks at San Cas headed to the Crooked Tree Government School to show that they too are proud of Ashton. Duane Moody has that story.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Crooked Tree Government School…it is the primary school that yielded this year’s top P.S.E. scorer, Ashton Tillett. Tillett has been accepted to EP Yorke High for the 2014 school year and he was flattered when he was acknowledged once again today for excelling.
Ashton Tillett, Top P.S.E. Scorer
Ashton Tillett
“There is a lot of things in my head right now. I’m very excited about high school and this accomplishment has increased the confidence in myself. I feel very happy and you know, some people tell me how does it feel to be famous. I tell them I feel good. I am very happy.”
San Cas presented Tillett with a series of tokens including school supplies, a hamper and hosted a luncheon for Tillett and his classmates. According to Marketing Manager of the San Cas Group, Aisha Rudon, hearing Ashton’s life story and struggles touched the management and in a final decision, the company has decided to award him with all his school supplies for his next four years of high school.
Aisha Rudon
Aisha Rudon, Marketing Manager, San Cas Group
“His story is a living example to all of us that the basic things that we take for granted every day are the things that this boy has been living without, but even with all of that, he came out on top. I think it is a god given talent that Ashton has and I know that he is going to continue on to be a great person—a great student and a great man. I am so proud to say that beside what we are doing today, which is a little bit; a luncheon of him and his classmates, done by the staff of San Cas. The GM, Misses Louisa Santos and the Castillo family have promised and we are going to do this for Ashton. We are going to provide him with his four years of high school, his school supplies. So his school bags, his pens, his pencils…all courtesy of The Angelus Press.”
Ashton beat the odds to earn the top place in the P.S.E. His house had no electricity and for five months—from October of 2013 to February of this year—just a month prior to sitting his first P.S.E. exams; he was living in a shelter because his house was affected by flooding. But he persevered and came out on top. The Tillett family as well as the faculty and staff of the school were overwhelmed by the recognition.
Margiana Tillett
Margiana Tillett, Sister
“We are very excited and everything, but we just lost our father in 2010 so it is pretty challenging and we have to face…we were in the flood shelter until the first of February. We punished a lot, but we also try to stick together as a family, try to be a role model to Ashton and also the other children that are going to school. So it is pretty challenging for us, but we will be there for him.”
Ashton Tillett
“Like they said before, I had to move out of my house and go into a shelter and open room. I had to conquer those challenges to reach this goal. And because we didn’t have electricity…we used to didn’t have electricity, but now we have. So when I go home, dah straight in my book.”
Also receiving school supplies were sixteen other students from the Crooked Tree Government School. Operations Manager of Angelus Press, John Tillett, spoke of the back to school initiative the company has taken on.
John Tillett
John Tillett, Operations Manager, Angelus Press
“The initiative was set up outside of the fact that Crooked Tree had the top student; it was actually a big coincidence. We at the Angelus Press decided to embark on a social program to give back to the community to really show them our appreciation—to show the country and our customers our appreciation for what they have given us. It is time for us to give back. We plan to go through the entire Belize Rural area. School by school, we will be giving the top performers at each grade level a school bag filled with school supplies.”
Ashton’s aspiration is to be the valedictorian for EP Yorke 2018. Duane Moody for News Five.
San Cas, through the Angelus Press, will also be providing school supplies and a bag pack to top performers in each district.
Quite a humbling experience to see what this young man and his mother and family went through. This shows that no matter what the odds are, good parenting, prayers, neighborly love and perseverance pay off. Maybe some of these young knuckleheads from the city and elsewhere who are killing each other would read and take example. It makes us look at our lives and even that of our children who think that life is easy and don’t want to hear what I have to say because I’m deemed too strict or preaching too much. It’s ten times harder when you’re a single parent and both parents are not on the same page ; the child/children suffer then. I just had an email from a friend of mine who, because of serious financial constraints, had to take the father of her child to Family Court. Who is the magistrate, Natalia Carter. LOL. She’s got her own personal issues and a nasty attitude from her days as a clerk at Treasury. Now, especially since she got that job at Family Court and she’s now the head, it has been worst over the years. Only recently has her true personal issues surfaced and Belize now found out that she was the “Nail” in the “Hammer And Nail” saga. Nicholas was the same . She thought that doing it the old-fashioned biblical way (if you know what I mean) with the actual heir apparent to Family Court before Natalia took over was going to help her keep her job or her private contract she got after she retired. What she didn’t count on was that UDP had a change of heart because the heir apparent didn’t pass his exams. Perez! She’s totally left field. We all know about her walking all the way on the highway after her spouse left her. She was eventually moved. I commend you on the work you’ve done with your child through all adversity. Belize Bank and BTL offer four year scholarships and help with tutoring. If you can get in touch with someone at Channel 5 as early as this week, give them the size of your son’s feet. Give them the exact size so I an get a half size larger, and I’ll find a way to contact them. I know he will need a pair of black tennis shoe and instead of you trying to sacrifice a $200-$250 for a pair of counterfeit shoe from those stores in the city, I’ll get you one and get it to Belize. Leave your number with Channel 5 also(Or Channel 5 get in touch with her and get the info). I’ve seen a couple photos of your son and he looks like a size 14 boys. I don’t promise much, because I just personally paid off some big ticket items such as a house in order to secure my future since the economy is so horrible in the US, but I can help. I will talk to a couple of close friends and see what we can do to assist, especially in tuition. I’m doing it this way because it’s not meant to be a publicity stunt and I prefer to remain anonymous. Again, congrats young man and always remember your mother and her sacrifices.