By Joni MIller | Projects Director
This year marks Ocean Academy’s 10th Anniversary as the first high school on Caye Caulker. Our student body has grown to 115. And we are friends with an astronaut! Principal Heidi Curry was invited to speak Chris Hadfield's Generator event, in Toronto at the Roy Thomson Hall on November 15th. We are so honoured. Chris Hadfield is an astronaut, musician and of course, friend of our musician friend, Danny Michel. The event's description sounds a lot like what we aspire to be at Ocean Academy:
"Our aim is to find the best of the world's niches and bring them to light in one special, weird, and interesting crossover of a night. It is comedy, and music, and art and science. It is biomechanics and celebrity and world-altering actions. It is a sum that equals more than its parts. We want more people to expand their horizons, and spend some time on the interesting fringes they rarely encounter. We want them to do it with us."
When we opened in 2008 one of our hopes was to one day hire our graduates as the teachers and leaders. It has happened! Two alumni currently studying Education programs at University taught a week of summer classes in Math and English and mentored incoming students. We also hired OA alumni as the technology assistant, eco-tourism workshop leader, and chef for the school snack program.
When we first opened in 2008, we had no computer lab and relied on donated laptops. Now in Technology, 16-year old Daniela represented Team Belize at the FIRST Global Robotics Olympics August 16-18. The students assembled and coded a robot capable of lifting small boxes and glass panels and twisting a handle on the game field with the theme of "Energy Impact". Belize placed 106/161 countries and won a Safety Award. Upon her return to Belize, Daniela visited elementary schools to show younger children what is possible in Science and Technology.
The school's Girls Rising Club continues to uplift members with guest speakers, and volunteer work. Five girls went to Belize City as delegates to the Maritime Careers for Women and Girls Conference. They have inspired the boys to start their own club and we are looking forward to seeing what they create.
Our campus is still too small for playing fields, so Ocean Academy students went daily to the basketball court in the village centre to practice volleyball this season. Male and female teams competed with the neighbouring island (San Pedro) and came very close to victory. School spirit was definitely high and we were so pleased with the sportsmanship all around.
Candidates for Student Government attended workshops in leadership skills and communication. The elected council's first activity was to organize a fun Hallowe'en event on campus. Other school leaders are members of the Oceana Wavemakers, and they have conducted beach cleanups as well as movie nights about environmental issues like plastic waste reduction.
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