Kaville establishes Excel Academics to help kids from low-income families

Kaville Hazlewood, a proud 23-year-old son of the blackfish town, Barrouallie has created Excel Academics to help children from low-income families.

Hazelwood who still resides in Barrouallie is a proud past student of the Thomas Saunders Secondary School, where he received a sound and quality secondary education.

At the age of 18, upon completion of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC), he was afforded the opportunity to pursue an undergraduate degree in Statistics and Economics, which also makes him as he told St Vincent Times a proud son of the education revolution.

Hazelwood has grown to become passionate about helping other youths to discover their true academic potential which led to him being an educator.

Read Kaville’s story below

         Excel Academics

Unlike many young people in my community, I was fortunate to have come from what I will consider a middle-class family, where my parents were able to finance evening classes and any additional assistance I needed for school. This made me cognizant, that additional tutoring plays a significant role in a child’s academic development and success.

It was never my goal to become an educator, but things took an unexpected turn and today I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to mould young men and women into outstanding members of the Vincentian society. I believe that God has called me to this purpose, and I have every intention of fulfilling it.

After graduating from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, in 2021, I decided to reject the commonly trodden path of seeking employment and decided to establish my own business, Excel Academics. I am a firm believer that our youths are to shift their focus to creating employment rather than being employed, which will spark the innovative thinking our nation needs to move to the next level. Excel Academics started as a small team of teachers who provided an after-school teaching service for students pursuing the CSEC examinations. However, since then, we extended our services to CPEA, in keeping with our plan to reach students at all levels. I always knew that my ability to help students win will be contingent on the quality of teachers on my team. I am happy to say that we have maintained a high standard in delivering quality teaching to over 70 students in the past 10 months.

Our teachers have their degree, teacher training and enters the classroom environment with a wealth of knowledge and experience. At Excel Academics, we believe that there are no constraints on the mind, it is about the ability of the teacher to find ways to individualize their approach to tap into each student’s full potential. This is what Excel Academics is hoping to do. The academic environment is dynamic, young persons are evolving in how they wish to be engaged and Excel Academics remains fluid and in touch with our youth in order to fulfil its mandate.

I think that our young people are more intelligent and exposed than ever. Sadly, our schooling system continues to try to reach them on outdated terms using traditional engagement techniques. It must become clear that we are losing our youth and the innovation that they can bring to the progress of our nation.

The homework centre

Over the past academic year, many parents reached out to me for tutoring classes for their children but were unable to afford the services. I adjusted the prices and provided a few scholarships to accommodate as many low-income families as possible, but I did not think it was not enough. From this experience, I felt the calling to do more to assist children from destitute families whose parents/guardians are unable to finance the additional support needed for their academic success. Over the past few months, I asked myself, “What about those children who cannot afford the help that they need? and where do I fit in?”. I strongly believe that every child whether rich or poor deserves support from people who believe in them and can help them to envision a beautiful world filled with opportunities and possibilities.

This propelled me to develop a program called “The Homework Help Centre” for children from low-income families. The objective of this initiative is to create more learning opportunities for children from less fortunate households. Most importantly, creating a safe space for these children to be able to successfully complete their homework and assignments with access to the right resources. While primary and secondary level education is freely available to all Vincentians, not every child returns home from school to an environment conducive for learning, not every household has Wi-Fi and technological resources and not every parent is able to assist with homework. Hence, the plan is to utilize the government’s resource centres across the country to create a conducive learning environment and provide teaching assistance in an attempt to alleviate this problem and level the playing field.

My plan is to create an avenue and opportunity for educated members of our communities to give back by sharing their wealth of academic knowledge with students who are in need of it. I will like to see us as a community develop a culture where knowledge gained from others, experience and otherwise is paid forward to the younger generations. Homework centres will be set up in various resource centres across St. Vincent and the Grenadines where students can attend after school and receive the guidance and help they need with their homework from our pool of volunteers.

While resource centres are available and easily accessible, a child is not naturally motivated to make effective use of them, and so they need our guidance. It’s important to note that volunteers will not be limited to teachers but members of society who are willing and capable to assist. My committee and I will be reaching out to the churches, schools, government and all of our other social institutions to request the collaboration that will be needed to make this project a success. I strongly believe that with all hands on deck, this program will be successful.

The business launch and award ceremony

Excel Academics business officially launched on August 19^th, 2022, after a full year of successful operation.

Two 5^th form Thomas Saunders Secondary School (TSSS) students received academic scholarships in honour of the former principal of the TSSS, Mr John Renton, namely the “John Renton Scholarship”. One of the students (Kelly-Ann Myers) is from the La Soufriere red zone, Chateaubelair, and was significantly affected by the eruptions. Both students will each receive $800.00 worth of classes from Excel Academics in preparation for the May/June 2023 CSEC examinations.

Mr Renton was very pleased to be honoured by his past student, Kaville Hazlewood, director of Excel Academics who spoke about the importance of giving back to those who contributed to your journey. Mr Renton spoke about his personal experience, how tutoring helped him to become successful on his academic journey and expressed his gratitude to be able to be a part of providing that opportunity for others to benefit the way he did. He said that children learn and receive information in many different ways which the public schooling system does not cater to, and after-school tutoring proves to be effective in ensuring this gap is bridged. Mr Renton also expressed his interest in being a part of the homework help centre initiative, being a seasoned and well-experienced educator.

Going forward, Excel Academics pledges to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to do as much as possible to ensure that low-income families are not left out but are firstly considered in youth academic development projects.