Gender Equality Belize Project #50820

Ocean Academy Girls Rising and Staying in School

by Caye Caulker Ocean Academy

Project Report | Jul 10, 2026
Flooding, Resilience, Awards, Construction

By Heidi Curry | Founder

Diane selected as a Children's Parliamentarian

Dear OA Friends and Donors,

As one of OA's Founders, I am forever proud of the resilience of OA's teachers and students. Despite being displaced for five months because of severe campus flooding, learning never stopped. Our young women continued to win national awards. We celebrated our 16th graduating class. Dr. Daniela Novelo became our first alumna to become a doctor of dentistry, Leyvi our first to earn her Masters in Education Leadership, and Diane, Geanne, Evarista and Keilin earned second place as Girls in ICT!

You, our generous donors, nurture the hopes and dreams of Caye Caulker's girls and young women. Your donations made campus renovations possible. By discontinuing the use of the ground floor and moving restrooms and offices upstairs, students were able to return to upper-floor classrooms.

Now we need to complete construction of two classrooms before the rainy season begins in September. We would love your help to spread the word so all of our students can remain on campus!

The cost of each classroom is $45,000 USD. We have almost raised enough for half of one so far. Every donation helps!

See the flooding and hear from students in this video.

Students did not let the challenges slow them down. Check out some of their awards:

Children’s Parliament: OA students Ayiannie, Diane and Nathaniel, submitted winning applications to earn their spaces in Belize’s Children’s Parliament. Joined by three OA alumni, Jamilah, Kiana, and Jaslyn, the students convened at the National Assembly to debate real issues facing the country.
Girls in ICT: Diane, Geanne, Evarista and Keilin won second place at the national Girls in ICT event based on their performance in technical sessions involving cryptography and drone flight coding.
Basketball National Tournament: Two of our girls, Jiselle and Jazz were selected to play in the national basketball championship.
Certificates: 93 Students earned industry-recognized certifications in Culinary Arts, Scuba Open Water, Electrical, Woodworking, First Aid & Health Education, Fish & Coral ID, Mixed Media Art, Cosmetology, Crochet & Embroidery, and Football.
Central American Youth Ambassador: Selected through a rigorous national process, one of our boys, Nathaniel, represented OA as one of eight Belizean Central American Youth Ambassadors. The U.S. Department of State exchange program included three weeks of immersion in the U.S.

Graduation season brought excitement for our seniors and alumni:

39 students celebrated graduation from OA in June.
OA alumna Dr. Daniela Novelo earned a doctorate in dentistry from Universidad Anáhuac Mayab.
OA alumna and Vice Principal Leyvi Florian earned a Master of Education in Education Leadership from Galen University.
Alumnae topped their classes and earned Associate’s Degrees on the mainland:

Lily: 4.0 GPA and #1 in her class, Business Administration with focus in graphic design.
Breyannie: Honors, Business Administration with focus in Economics and Accounting.
Sophie, Dean’s List, Prelaw.

Thank you for your presence on our journey. We could not do this important work without you!

With gratitude,

Heidi Curry

Founder, Ocean Academy

Goal: 2 Dry Classrooms, Office, Restrooms: $90k

OA Class of 2026 ~ 39 Graduates!

Alumna Dr. Daniela Novela is a dental surgeon!

Diane, Geanne, Evarista, Keilin: 2nd Place ICT

Jiselle and Jazz earned spots on national team

Links:

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Mar 13, 2026
What is OA SEaTIDE?

By Penny Williams | Project Leader

The OA SEaTIDE is our Ocean Academy Center for Social Enterprise, Technology, Innovation, Development and Education. Our high-school students have created amazing projects and initiatives this school year, and taken leaps and bounds in learning.

Social Enterprise
Students won first place in North America and the Caribbean for their business plan entry to the School Enterprise Challenge. 1250 schools from 83 countries participated. Ocean Academy's business idea is called Fish with Purpose. Students plan to rent rods to visitors and share their fishing knowledge about the island's best spots. Profits support student school fees,pocket money and the school scholarship fund. Other social enterprises at Ocean Academy are Kayak, Bike and Dinner with Purpose, as well as our culinary herb sales.

Technology
To celebrate Women's Month, Ocean Academy organized a Technology for Women and Girls workshop event. Participants learned about Coding, Graphic Design software, 3-D Sketch Up Architectual Design and even ROV underwater robotics. A group of students is now experimenting with building their own ROV, with the guidance of three girls in the competitive Atlantis ROV Team from Whidbey Island, USA who are mentoring Ocean Academy's group.

Innovation
Students are really excited about mobile apps. Earlier this year, they won "Most Innovation and Creative Project" in a national S.T.E.M. science fair, for creating a prototype of a mobile app that would track mangrove restoration planting projects. Last month, a team of students ages 13-17 won the Belize High School Innovation Challenge with their mobile app called "Hire Belize". The competition challenged students to come up with solutions to high youth unemployment. Hire Belize is moving from protoype to reality now, and contains youth profile pages with their skills or products for sale, so that potential employers or buyers can easily find and hire young people. Testimonials and a star-rating system will provide valuable feedback on each youth's job or product performance.

Development and Education
For Belize Reef Week, students who wrote winning essays on the theme "Belief in the Reef" won a trip to snorkel the Caye Caulker Reef.

Students learned a hands-on lesson, literally, about citizenship, by joining hands in solidarity with tour guides, tourists, community members and Village Council members as a human message about our desire to protect the Belizean Reef from potential contamination. The event was organized by Oceana in centres nationwide and called "Hands Across the Sand".

What next? Awards of Excellence Ceremony!
The moment we’ve been waiting for is almost here!
Ocean Academy proudly presents our Awards of Excellence 2026 will be an evening dedicated to celebrating outstanding students, dedicated mentors, inspiring leaders, and valued community partners.
This will be a night of pride, recognition, and unforgettable moments.

Links:

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Nov 4, 2025
Ocean Academy Girls in Sports & Student Government

By Penny Williams | Project Leader

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