From G-Teens to A-QuEST: Sixty Years of Mentoring, Scholarship and Service

By Dennis A. Minott, PhD.

July 14, 2026

The history of A-QuEST did not begin in Jamaica in 1983. Its roots reach back much further, to Trinidad and Tobago in 1966, when I founded a small Christian youth organisation called G-Teens.

G-Teens was never a large group. Its membership did not exceed 40 young people, but its ambitions were substantial. It combined Bible study, Christian evangelism, youth camps, academic coaching, leadership development and fellowship. Particular attention was given to Physics and Additional Mathematics, subjects in which many young people required both encouragement and disciplined instruction.

The aim was never simply to help students pass examinations. From the beginning, I believed that intellectual excellence should be accompanied by moral seriousness, spiritual growth, service to others and the development of strong character. Young people were encouraged to think carefully, work diligently, live honourably and recognise that their abilities carried responsibilities.

Among the earliest members of G-Teens were Ken Burgess, Wayne Rock, Nathan Charles, Terry Charles, Anderson Elcock, Brian, Deidre Perryman, Nolda Perryman, Sharon Perryman, Joan Bernadine, Ayesha Mohammed, Mildred Denny, Garthlyn Craig, Ann Warner, Garrick Warner, Hermise Harewood, Michael Bissram, Winston "Touche" MacIntosh, Kimlin Williams, Kimlan Fu, Noreen Martin, Winnifred Herrera, Denise Herrera, Ahmad Ali. Betty Moses and Margaret, who later became the wife of Kenrick, came from Tobago, while Rosalie Holder and Margaret Edgehill came from Trinidad.

Though modest in size, G-Teens established the central principles that would guide my work for the next six decades: close mentoring, high academic expectations, Christian concern, personal discipline and belief in the extraordinary potential of young people.

After my doctoral studies in Trinidad and before my departure to work in Mexico as a young PhD Physicist-Engineer, this commitment to youth development continued to shape my thinking. In time, it contributed to the formation of The Excellence Coalition, co-founded by Joan Spencer-Rowe, later Hernandez, David Noel and me. The Coalition helped carry forward the conviction that talented young people, especially those who might otherwise be overlooked, deserved systematic encouragement, intellectual challenge and access to wider opportunities.

That work eventually morphed into A-QuEST, formally established in Jamaica in 1983.

A-QuEST grew far beyond the scale of G-Teens. What began as a small mentoring tradition eventually became an international educational movement. More than 7,000 young people have now passed through A-QuEST and its related initiatives, and the number continues to grow, though more slowly today through online engagement.

Its alumni include Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Belizeans, Americans, Bahamians, Antiguans, Brazilians, Haitians, Saint Lucians, Grenadians, Guyanese, Nigerians, Japanese, Koreans, Burmese, Caymanians, Pakistanis, Indians, Sri Lankans and British citizens. This geographical reach reflects the movement’s transition from a local mentoring effort into an international community of scholars, professionals and public-spirited citizens.

Of the more than 7,000 alumni, over 4,000 received scholarships or significant educational support to study in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Finland and other countries. The alumni community includes 11 Rhodes Scholars, 29 United World Colleges Scholars and more than 1,200 persons who have earned doctoral degrees.

These numbers matter, but they do not tell the entire story. A-QuEST’s deeper achievement lies in the lives shaped by sustained mentorship, disciplined study and the insistence that excellence must serve a purpose beyond personal advancement. Its alumni have entered research science, engineering, medicine, education, law, technology, public policy, business and academia. Many now mentor others, continuing the tradition from which they themselves benefited.

Among the alumni whose scientific promise particularly impresses me are Dr Gavin Jones of IBM, formerly of Morant Bay High School, and Professor Gyanprakash Avinash Ketwaroo of Yale University, formerly of Titchfield School. Both possess, in my judgement, the intellectual depth, originality and research potential associated with the highest levels of scientific achievement. It would not surprise me if either were eventually considered for honours of the stature of a Nobel Prize.

Whether or not such recognition comes, their work already demonstrates what can happen when talent is identified early, challenged seriously and supported consistently.

A-QuEST should therefore not be viewed merely as an organisation founded in 1983. It is the present expression of a continuous tradition that began with G-Teens in Trinidad and Tobago in 1966. In 2026, that tradition marks 60 years of youth development, Christian service, scholarship, leadership and belief in the transformative power of disciplined mentoring.