Jewel Cumberbatch, a real gem.
Carol Buchanan
St. Croix Central High School 2010 salutatorian Jewel Cumberbatch was accepted at and offered scholarships to six different universities. She chose to stay on St. Croix and get her degree from the University of the Virgin Islands.
“I chose UVI because the classes aren’t big and for the one-on-one attention from teachers that I will get,” Cumberbatch says. “And I wanted to have a nice smooth transition to college here.”
She will begin studying mathematics and engineering this week, working towards a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics. She went through orientation last week and says they are calling her “the little engineer.”
The articulate young lady with a big bright smile was awarded the full four-year UVI – VAL/SAL Scholarship for valedictorians and salutatorians graduating from local high schools.
She says she was always on the principal’s honor roll and at the top of her class. She was the valedictorian of her sixth grade class at Lew Muckle Elementary School and Elana Christian Junior High School.
Cumberbatch say Sharon Charles, her Gifted and Talented teacher in fifth and sixth grade, was a big influence on her always pushing her to go beyond her limits.
“She really challenged me, always telling me I could go beyond the norm,” Cumberbatch says. “Nothing good in life comes easy. I always push myself to accomplish things.”
She says she never likes to see a B so she gets motivated pushing herself to get an A.
Math and science have always been her favorite subjects and she likes doing hands-on projects. She took part in the district spelling bee three times and math, science and history quiz bowls. She was in honors and advanced placement classes at Central.
She came to the Source interview with two very well organized loose leaf binders with plastic sleeves of awards and certificates from kindergarten through high school, incudin a certificate of outstanding achievement from Delegate Donna M. Christensen and a Hovensa Stellar Student award.
She had a little taste of college at UVI when she was chosen to take part in STEM, a two-week Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics workshop where students build remote controlled robots.
As an extracurricular activity at Central she was in Nature Environmental Role Models — NERM — where she worked with other local environmental groups doing such activities as beach cleanups.
“I enjoy going to the beach, so it came natural for me to keep the beaches and the community clean,” Cumberbatch says. “It isn’t work it is fun keeping our island clean.”
She enjoys photography and especially what can be done now with digital cameras. She has had her works displayed at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts and Danica Art Gallery. She is also a talented singer and plans on joining the Voices of Inspiration choir at UVI.
She gets her musical talent from her parents, Norma and Julien Cumberbatch, who are both musicians.
“I have been blessed to have such a well mannered and talented daughter,” Norma Cumberbatch says. “I am confident she will do well in life.”
Cumberbatch says she has a broad scope of where she sees herself in a few years. She wants to be a chemical or electrical engineer at some type of technical facility on St. Croix. She also wants to give back to the community by mentoring children in some aspect of math education.
“I love this island and I plan on staying here,” Cumberbatch says. “I want to travel and see other places, but I can’t see myself living any where else.”
