Young scholar brings honour to Tobago

TODAY’S HEROES of the School System salutes a young man of the sister island of Tobago, who through his academic endeavours has brought recognition and honour to not only himself and his school, but to the entire island as well.
Seventeen-year-old Kristy-Jo Sebro of Bacolet Point, Scarborough, Tobago, is a Form Six student of the illustrious Bishops High School, where incidentally, his father Finbar Sebro is the Acting Principal.
Already a household name in Tobago, Kristy-Jo revealed that he was successful at the Common Entrance Examination, now referred to as the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA), as he placed second in the exam throughout the island.
Following this, he said he always tried to maintain his grades in high school, and during the CXC Exam, Kristy-Jo had the dubious honour of copping first place in the Caribbean region in the Technical Vocational area.
He explained that he received an award for Technical Vocational subjects which included Electronics, Computer Engineering and Technical Drawing.
A ceremony was held in December of 2002 in St Kitts, and Kristy-Jo said the three day long celebration entailed a tour of the island, and the hot spots which one could visit.
It was concluded by a prize-giving ceremony, in which he was presented with a full scholarship to UWI in whatever area he was desirous of studying.
Kristy-Jo is currently pursuing Physics and Chemistry at A Levels, but expressed high hopes of achieving his life-long ambition of becoming a computer engineer.
Questioned as to how he juggled a demanding workload to achieve academic success, Kristy-Jo stated: “I just try to keep up a regular work schedule, so that when a teacher appoints work to be done, I do it to the best of my ability.
“Keep repeating and doing things which were taught  for the last couple of months, so that it sticks in your brain and you do not forget it.”
Proving the theory that an individual has to balance school with hobbies, Kristy-Jo said outside of school, he was a part-time DJ, playing at small parties and private functions.
He also said he enjoyed inventing and exploring the latest gadgets in music and audio systems.
Hailing from a long line of scholars, Kristy’s Jo’s oldest brother Kirby is a doctor working in Manchester, England, while his sister Tamara is a dentist working right here in Trinidad.
His brothers Ronnie and Stephen are at Harvard University studying for a Ph D and at Bishops High School, respectively, and his sister Candace is completing her final year of Computer Science Studies.
His parents Joan and Finbar Sebro have accepted the responsibility of fostering a learning environment and ensuring that discipline are instilled in students of the Roxborough Secondary Center and Bishops High School, respectively.
Kristy-Jo’s impressive awards collection contains the Amoco 1997 Common Entrance Award for outstanding performance in Tobago; the Graduation Award in 2002 for Most Outstanding Student in Biology, Mathematics, and Information Technology; and the CXC 2002 Award for Most Outstanding student in Technical and Vocational subjects in the Caribbean region.
On another note, Kristy-Jo copped the second prize in the 2002 Prime Minister’s Innovation and Invention Awards, for inventing an alternative and more efficient braking system for motor vehicles.
Kristy-Jo said he was motivated to develop the system because he was traumatised by the carnage on the nation’s roadways, and the number of fatal accidents which claimed the lives of loved ones.
He felt a more efficient, effective braking system would be instrumental in saving lives. Judges at the competition lauded the invention, which they felt would revolutionise the motor vehicle industry.
Kristy-Jo’s father, Finbar, described him as “dedicated to whatever he does”.
“He is a loving, caring person, who is always working on some invention, and loves music with a passion.”
Teachers at the Scarborough Secondary and Bishops High Schools described him as a well-disciplined, well-rounded and organised student who not only thinks of himself, but of others as well.
In the next five years, Kristy-Jo hopes to be established as a computer engineer, and laughingly claimed that he hoped to be working for Microsoft or some other large computer manufacturer.
Asked to advise students writing the CXC examination this year, Kristy-Jo replied “be yourself and be calm, but study early, so that you are relaxed and calm for the exam”.
The above information was researched by the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA).