WESTERN BUREAU:

Four days after going through the emotional experience of burying her 16-year-old son, Patricia Beckford had a reason to smile last Thursday.

Her son was one of several students who were honoured for outstanding academic performance at the three-year-old Green Pond High School in St. James.

Ms. Beckford is the mother of the late Junior 'Bambino' Smith, a 10th grader, who was fatally stabbed by a classmate after a at the school on October 24. His alleged killer is now facing a murder charge.

The grieving mother was met with thunderous applause during the school's second annual prizegiving ceremony when she accepted a certificate of excellence on behalf of her late son who placed first in his class.

She told The Gleaner that it was an overwhelming moment for her.

Proud, but hurt

"I'm very sad and hurt because he was the one who was supposed to be here to collect it (the certificate), and seeing all these children collecting their awards brought back a lot of memories," she said. "Collecting this award today made me so proud; he always made me proud."

Ms. Beckford: "He was well loved by people everywhere and students. He wasn't a troublesome child, no teacher has ever had to call me to school about his behaviour or anything like that."

She recalled that her son, who died leaving two brothers and a sister, loved art and had ambitions of becoming an architect. The road to recovery for herself and her family has been a hard one, as she had not returned to work since her son's passing.

Over 60 students were recognised for their outstanding performance for the academic year 2006-2007. Additionally, 11th grade prefect, Lori-Ann Cato, received awards for placing first in her grade and for outstanding performance in principles of business, social studies, food and nutrition and English language. She will be sitting 10 subjects in the CSEC exams and was a recipient of the principal's Honour Roll Award.