Reef diaries

Ocean Academy is coming towards the end of its first year in operation, teaching 35 local students, most of whom wouldn’t otherwise get the chance for a high school education. This 90% donation and grant-run school is the brainchild of Heidi Curry and Joni Miller, who achieved this miracle for Caye Caulker in a very short time. Another generous individual, Dane Dingerson, donated some land for the school, and many volunteers worked to get the school opened in just a few short months, giving their time and money. September saw three classes start, and with each year, the school will expand to more classrooms and more classes. Before the school opened, there were three options for the local children on finishing Primary school education: move to Belize city, either to stay with relatives or one parent; make the expensive and long journey to Belize City/San Pedro everyday, even in bad weather; or leave school, which is what many of the local kids had to do. Ocean Academy provides them with the best chance of all, they can get a great education while staying with their families and learning to give back to their community. This progressive school offers a large variety of subjects, with mainstream subjects taught by full time teachers and some afternoon electives taught by volunteers. It allows students to have control over their destiny and the chance to live up to their potential. The whole community will see the benefit of their education as the children are more likely to stay in Caye Caulker, though some may even get the chance to go to college.

Ocean Academy relies mostly on donations. Students pay a tuition fee that is a fraction of what it costs to run the school, and some have financial trouble with that. There are so many ways that you can help: fundraising; volunteering your time and expertise while here; even just carrying donations on your journey to Belize helps enormously.

Check out their comprehensive website for more information

Red Mangrove has a donation box inside the office, and fully supports the endeavours of Ocean Academy.

Tags: action, Caye Caulker, education

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 9:30 pm and is filed under caye caulker news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.