Company Honours Excellence in Students from Mining Area With Scholarships
 DISCOVERY BAY, St Ann; Aug. 17, 2026
Discovery Bauxite underlined its celebration of excellence with the award of scholarships to more than 60 students who were among the best at their schools in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations in 2026.
The students were celebrated and handed certificates with the knowledge that the secondary schools they will be attending next month will receive $25,000 for each of them from Discovery Bauxite.
At the same time, the overall top boy and girl from the 30 schools will receive $100,000 each toward their studies over the next five or seven years at high school.
(An emotional Nisia Tracey from Runaway Bay Primary is consoled by her grandmother after it was announced that she was overall top female student) .
The recognition of the top boy and girl from the 30 schools in the mining area of the St Ann-based bauxite company has been a feature of its activities and contribution to education for years, going back to predecessor companies Noranda and Kaiser.
(Awardees along with  Jason Burke, Operations Director; Nordia Tracey, Human Resources Manager, and Kent Skyers, Community Relations Manager, on the lawns at Port Rhodes Sports Club. – Photo by Joey’s Photo Studio)
The PEP High Achievers Awards Presentation Ceremony was held at Port Rhodes Sports Club, Discovery Bay, St Ann, on Thursday, August 13, 2026, and was chaired by Kent Skyers, head of Community Relations at Discovery Bauxite. Other executives of Discovery Bauxite taking part in the event were Nordia Tracey, HR Manager, and Jason Burke, Director of Operations.
The top female student, from the 30 schools in the mining area, was Nisia Tracey from Runaway Bay Primary. She will be attending York Castle High, and the top boy was Michael Josh Richards of Servite Primary, Brown’s Town. He will also be attending York Castle High.
(Nordia Tracey, Human Resource Manager, Discovery Bauxite, presenting a tablet to Shanoya Baker of Bob Marley Primary School for achieving the top score, among the awardees, in a single subject in PEP. Left background is Raymond Treasure, Principal of York Casrke High)
Shanoya Baker of Bob Marley Primary and Junior High was recognized for receiving the highest  overall score among the high achievers in one subject. She scored 356 in Language Arts and was presented with a tablet. She will be attending Westwood High.
In addition to the presentation to the top performing students, special awards went to Runaway Bay Primary School for showing improvement in performance over the years and for now producing the top female student among those recognized by Discovery Bauxite.
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(Guest speaker Dr Daren Johnson)
The annual special award to a principal went to Principal of Alva Primary Claudine Brown Bartley. Mrs Bartley was praised and rewarded for academically lifting the school she once attended and for which she is now principal. She has taken the school into the league of regular high performance in exit exams and academic pursuits.
(Top Principal Claudine Brown Bartley, left of Alva Primary receiving her award from Nordia Tracey, HR Manager at Discovery Bauxite, and in photo at right teacher at Runaway Bay Primary School Niashwa Wray accepts a plaque from Jason Burke, Director of Operations at Discovery Bauxite, in recognition of the school’s improved performance),
Also in keeping with the recognition of excellence, the programme featured past PEP High Achiever Abrianna Greaves, who has just completed sixth form at St Hilda’s Diocesan High, Brown’s Town and is now entering UWI. Ms Greaves spoke to the new high achievers, telling them she was once where they were and encouraged them to go with confidence and discipline in their studies. Also bringing greetings was a former awardee, Stasha Marston, a scholarship awardee who is a student at UWI
Guest speaker Dr Darren Johnson spoke about his early years in Brown’s Town and how people saw possibilities in him and assisted him in school. He thanked the bauxite company for their assistance in his development.
(Ten-year-old Thalia Lothian of Aboukir Primary introducing the guest speaker, Daren Johnson, who is at right. Next to her is Community Relations Manager Kent Skyers)
Delivering the charge to the high performers was Principal of York Castle High, Ramon Treasure.
(Abrianna Greaves, a former scholarship awardee under the bauxite company’s programme describing her journey to graduation from high school)
Director of Operations at Discovery Bauxite, Jason Burke, also congratulated the students who each received a certificate. He said they should treat the certificate as a contract between themselves, teachers, parents and the bauxite community.
There were several cultural items on the programme including by the Quadrille Hill and  Gully Dancers, Tina Moulton and Deneshia Thompson. Kaison Ward of Glen Prep did the opening prayer.
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