Grenada’s top secondary school graduates celebrated academic excellence at an awards ceremony hosted by the University of the West Indies Global Campus Grenada on October 9, where two standout students claimed the country’s most prestigious CSEC honors, marking new milestones for their institutions.
Cydney Steele, an alumna of St Joseph’s Convent St George’s (SJC), took home the 2025 T A Marryshow Memorial Award, while Myah Joseph of St Andrew’s Anglican Secondary School (SAASS) became the first student from her school to win the A A La Grenade Shield, since the award’s launch 30 years ago.
Established to honor two influential Grenadian leaders who shaped the nation’s public life and education sector, the two awards recognize distinct areas of academic achievement. The T A Marryshow Memorial Award pays tribute to the legendary Grenadian journalist, political activist and pioneering West Indian federalist. It judges candidates on their performance in four core subjects — English A, Mathematics, Information Technology and Caribbean History — alongside their top four additional subject scores, with a requirement that the group includes either a foreign language or a science discipline.
In contrast, the A A La Grenade Shield honors the legacy of a former Chief Education Officer and prominent educator, who was also the father of current Grenadian Governor-General Dame Cécile La Grenade. This award recognizes exceptional performance in technical and vocational education, paired with strong results in English, Mathematics and a science subject.
This year’s selection process was exceptionally competitive, with 22 nominated students hailing from 8 local secondary schools, 18 of whom were young women. The UWI Territorial Advisory Committee evaluated results from the May/June 2025 sitting of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations to select the winners. Jahzara Johnson, a student from J W Fletcher Catholic Secondary School, earned a rare distinction as the only nominee in 2025 shortlisted for both awards, a feat that only two students have managed to turn into dual wins in the history of the honors: Cerisse Nedd of Anglican High School in 2008 and Canaa Gittens of SJC in 2021.
For Steele, her win extends SJC’s unrivaled legacy at the Marryshow Memorial Award, which has been awarded annually since 1977. To date, SJC has claimed the top honor 26 times, including an unmatched six-year consecutive winning streak from 1996 to 2001, and shared the prize twice, in 2012 and 2013, with other local institutions. Steele delivered an outstanding performance across 13 CSEC subjects, earning 11 Grade One passes and 2 Grade Two passes.
Speaking at the ceremony, which coincided with Jill Viechweg–Philbert’s 10th anniversary as SJC principal, Viechweg–Philbert attributed the school’s decades of success to the core values instilled by the institution’s founding order, the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny. “To work is to pray, so we work hard, and so do we honour God,” she explained, echoing the order’s guiding principle. Steele reflected on the intense pressure of exam preparation, noting that consistent prayer helped her navigate the challenging period. She offered advice to future CSEC candidates, encouraging them to work through past examination papers and trust the knowledge they built over years of schooling. Steele is now considering pursuing further study in biophysics or biomedical engineering, with the University of the West Indies’ Trinidad campus among her top options.
Joseph’s win is a historic breakthrough for SAASS, marking the first time the school has claimed the A A La Grenade Shield since the award was introduced in 1995. SAASS’s only previous win across either of the two top awards dates back to 1984, when former student Janice Malcolm took home the Marryshow Memorial Award. Like Steele, Joseph sat for 13 CSEC subjects, earning an impressive 8 Grade One passes and 5 Grade Two passes.
Joseph, who has already advanced to the next stage of her post-secondary education, credited her success to the support of God, her family and her former SAASS teachers, who supported her growth both as a student and as an individual. She shared that she never expected to earn a nomination, and hopes her achievement sends a message to young learners across the country: that students do not need to be perfect to achieve academic success.
Both winners received substantial recognition for their achievements, along with institutional honors for their schools. The Grenada Co-operative Bank awarded EC$1,000 to each student, while Ariza Credit Union sponsored a laptop for Steele, and Nexa Credit Union provided a laptop for Joseph. Each student also took home a personal trophy and certificate from UWI Global Campus Grenada, while SJC claimed the permanent Marryshow winning cup for this year’s award, and SAASS took possession of the La Grenade winning shield.
Beyond celebrating individual student success, the annual awards serve a dual purpose: they uplift high academic standards across Grenada’s secondary education sector, while preserving the lasting legacies of two prominent Grenadians who dedicated their careers to advancing the nation through journalism, public service and education.