On Tuesday, September 1st, 2026, the National Parents Teachers Association (NPTA) of Antigua and Barbuda hosted its third annual recognition awards ceremony at the Christian Assembly Ministries in Paynters, gathering educators, students, families, and community partners to honor outstanding achievement across the nation’s public and private education sectors.
Unlike generic education awards that focus on only one group of education stakeholders, this ceremony was designed to shine a spotlight on three critical pillars of academic success: dedicated parents that support student learning, high-performing students that excelled in national standardized examinations, and innovative, caring teachers that go above and beyond for their classrooms. Specifically, the awards recognize top performers who earned exceptional results on two key regional and national assessments: the Grade VI National Assessment and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, alongside outstanding contributions from parents and teachers across both primary and secondary school levels.
This year’s honorees spanned public and private institutions across Antigua and Barbuda. For the Parent of the Year category, the awardees included Anesta Augustin-Edwards from private primary institution Seventh Day Adventist Primary, Claudette Browne from public primary school T. N. Kirnon Primary, Damian Tonge from public secondary school Irene B. Williams Secondary, and Ady Byrne from private secondary school St. Joseph’s Academy Secondary. For Student of the Year, the recipients were Caleb Jeremiah (Seventh Day Adventist Primary, private primary), Olivia Nicholas (Old Road Primary, public primary), Jahlisha Michael (Irene B. Williams Secondary, public secondary), and Amari Cornelius (St. Joseph’s Academy Secondary, private secondary). The 2026 Teacher of the Year winners were Bernadette Atkin (New Bethel SDA Primary, private primary), Kevin Scott (Golden Grove Primary, public primary), Tijah Myers (Irene B. Williams Secondary, public secondary), and Ellis Southwell (St. Joseph’s Academy Secondary, private secondary).
Opening the evening’s proceedings, NPTA President Alister Thomas extended a warm welcome to all attending guests and awardees. In his opening address, Thomas emphasized the urgent need for strengthened collaboration between three key actors: school leadership teams, the Antigua and Barbuda Ministry of Education, and the NPTA, to drive forward tangible improvements to the nation’s education system. He also shared a key milestone for the region: the NPTA’s annual awards program is the first initiative of its kind across the entire Caribbean, created specifically to recognize cross-stakeholder achievement in K-12 education.
The formal charge to the gathering was delivered by Rita Phillip-Harris, who brought personal context to the event as the 2025 Private Secondary School Parent of the Year winner.
Organizers noted that the annual ceremony would not be possible without widespread community and corporate support from across Antigua and Barbuda. A full roster of local sponsors stepped forward to fund and support the 2026 event, including Julees Restaurant, Sign Pro, Falmouth Harbour Marina, Antigua Masonry Products, Wadadli Events Services, Hadeed Group of Companies, Velvet Touch, Anjo Wholesale, Christo’s Supermarket, Go To, Townhouse Megastore, Crabb Hole Liquors, Gloria’s Supermarket, Newsco Limited (Observer Radio), ABS Television, Photogenesis Imaging, Stingray City, Jay’s Karaoke, Tropical Adventures, Lasoza Events, JCM Jewelry, SAC Stationery Art/Craft All in One, Harpers, Paper Clips, and Flower World.