When visiting Caye Caulker last year I spent a significant amount of time at the local Internet Café updating this blog right from the source. While sitting there with my orange juice typing away I noticed a woman coming in several times for copies and one time she sat down at the computer next to me looking up something on the Internet. Of course it is all about granting each other privacy at the Internet Café but I couldn’t resist to sneak a peak at the site she was looking at. Caye Caulker Ocean Academy – A non profit Highschool it read.
The Ocean Academy schoolbuilding
I introduced myself and told her I maintain a blog about Belize and my travels and asked her if I could feature her and the school in my blog. She was delighted.
Ocean Academy is the only Highschool in Caye Caulker. The idea was born in February 2008 and put into action after a HUGE public response within 7 months. It moved from being an idea, to a concept to a dream come true within this short a time and residents were very happy about the good news of a local Highschool.
Before Ocean Academy was founded kids had to travel to Belize City on a daily basis, stay with relatives on the mainland or be boarded in Belize City in order to go to Highschool. If all of these options didn’t work for them, they would just drop out and not go to school anymore. Another reason Highschool and education is unattainable for many children in Belize is the costs of it. Tuition, books and meals are expensive and most Belizean families cannot afford to send their child, much less more than one, to school past Elementary Grades. So it was clear that there is a great desire and need for a Highschool in Caye Caulker.
In a developing, young country such as Belize it is essential to be competitive for the job market in order to be employable by companies. Companies prefer to employ locals but with the shift from fishery to industrialization there aren’t enough qualified individuals to fill those openings. The other big source of income in Belize is tourism. But even for the tourism industry growing in Belize someone has to have major knowledge and job skills only gained past Elementary school.
Ocean Academy is a non-profit Highschool, meaning it sustains itself on grants, sponsorships and donations along with voluteer work. The vision of the two co-founders is to provide education to any child wanting to learn, no matter what social status, income of parents or grade. In order to follow this creed the Ocean Academy has to rely on donations a lot, be it money or teaching materials. Some of the teachers work for no pay at all just because they support the vision and Ocean Academy could NOT afford paying salaries at this time.
Future Student of Ocean Academy
Textbooks and Materials have been donated by Canadian and American schools, churches and individuals while time, transportation, food and equipment for some classes were provided by the local businesses. Apart from the regular school work like Math, Computer Skills, Physical Education, English and Social Studies, Ocean Academy is working with the local businesses to provide the opportunity to gain “on the job skills” for it’s students through an Apprenticeship Program. The students volunteer in local businesses gaining experiences in wedding photography, marine biology, business letter correspondance, online hotel booking, customer service skills, masonry, construction and sales and inventory.
I was very impressed with how much good these women have done over that short a time and applaud Joni Miller and Heidi Curry, the two co-founders of Ocean Academy. This year as they expect a rise in enrollment numbers they are planning to expand the school building in order to accommodate all the new students. Any of you who would like to read up on what is going on with Ocaean Academy, would like to donate school supplies or tuition money or have any questions concerning Ocean Academy, check out: www.cayecaulkerschool.com
Remember, education is a valuable good! And not everyone is priviledged enough to be able to afford it!
I’ve just run across your blog. Thank you for featuring Ocean Academy! Every small effort leads to some important connection. Just a small addition to your wonderful summary: Dane Dingerson is the third co-founder of Ocean Academy. Thanks again and I look forward to welcoming you into our school on your next visit to the caye! Heidi Curry
Why the interest in Belize? I work in Belmopan with a school sponsorship program, Children of Hope Foundation. I’ve visited Caye Caulker several times and even did a puppet show there at a school a few years ago. I’m a ventriloquist and writing consultant and will be moving there for 9 months for the coming school year.
Charlotte, my interest in Belize is a result of living in the US as an exchange student. My host dad is Belizean. That was back in 98 and he told me a lot about Belize, showed me pictures and talked to me about the country. Finally in 2009 i had the chance to visit and explore it myself!
and since then i keep coming back. I am sure you will like Ocean Academy and Caye Caulker. Best of luck! 