A far-reaching national school engagement initiative tied to the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) kicked off earlier this month, with organizers rolling out interactive sessions across campuses in Antigua and Barbuda to connect young people with the Commonwealth, amplify youth voices ahead of the upcoming Commonwealth Youth Forum, and embed sustainable recycling practices in schools and households.
Organized through a collaboration between the CHOGM Media and Public Affairs Committee, Commonwealth Youth Forum representatives, and local environmental group Good Humans 268, with additional support from Youth Correspondents, the tour will run through October 30. Its ultimate goal is to visit every accredited primary and secondary school across the nation, pending final schedule and logistics coordination.
In the first two days of activity alone, the tour team has already visited nine schools. On opening day Monday, sessions were held at Antigua Girls High School, Five Islands Primary, Green Bay Primary, Temple Academy, and Golden Grove. The following Tuesday, September 22, the team moved forward with stops at Jennings Secondary, Jennings Primary, Bendals Primary, Honey Tree Primary, and Tabernacle Academy.
Each on-campus session is structured to combine education, interaction, and actionable outreach. Attendees receive a foundational introduction to the Commonwealth and CHOGM, detailed information about the 2026 Commonwealth Youth Forum, a community-focused call to action from Good Humans 268, time for open questions, and branded giveaway items.
Speaking at Antigua Girls High School, 2024 Miss Antigua and Barbuda and alumna Desrie Markham, an attorney-at-law, addressed students on behalf of the Commonwealth Youth Forum, emphasizing the importance of youth involvement in the lead-up to CHOGM 2026. To center young perspectives, the initiative includes a dedicated Youth Forum survey that gives participating students a formal platform to share their views, concerns, and ideas with organizers.
“Young people should have a voice in the conversations taking place around CHOGM. Through the school tour and the Youth Forum survey, we want to hear their concerns and ideas and help them understand how they can participate,” explained Donte Walter, Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Youth Forum.
Everton Barnes, Co-Chair of the CHOGM Media and Public Affairs Committee, noted that direct in-school engagement is a strategic way to extend outreach beyond campus walls. “We want students to understand what CHOGM means for Antigua and Barbuda and how they can be involved. Going into schools allows us to have that conversation directly and help it reach families and the wider community,” Barnes said.
To ensure learning continues long after the tour team leaves each campus, every participating school receives a customized resource package for educators and students. The centerpiece of the package is *Our Commonwealth Classroom: CHOGM 2026 School Activity Guide*, with 10 copies provided to secondary schools and five to primary schools. The guide offers teachers ready-to-use frameworks to integrate topics related to CHOGM and the Commonwealth into existing lesson plans across multiple subjects, extending engagement through the rest of the academic year and beyond.
“The aim is to make CHOGM accessible and engaging for students. These resources give teachers practical ways to connect the Commonwealth to their lessons and keep the learning going after the school visit,” said Chaneil Imhoff, CHOGM 2026 Branding Lead.
The initiative also weaves environmental action into every step of its outreach, tying Commonwealth values of sustainable development to local waste management efforts. Along with educational resources, each school gets 25 recycling flyers to post around campus, particularly near existing blue recycling collection barrels.
Joshuanette Francis, a representative of Good Humans 268, outlined the multi-pronged strategy to engage entire families in recycling through participating students. Every student takes home a parent/guardian letter and a Plastic Pledge, encouraging households to commit to consistent recycling habits and contribute to improved national waste management. Each student also receives a reusable recycling bag to fill with household recyclable materials and return to school, with collected plastic bottle caps set aside to create custom Commonwealth flags as part of a hands-on educational project.
For primary school students, additional recycling booklets are distributed to reinforce core lessons about waste reduction, responsible environmental stewardship, and sustainable daily practices. To help organizers measure the full impact of the outreach, every school also receives a cover letter and data tracking sheet to log participation numbers across students, teachers, administrative staff, and other school personnel. This data will help the CHOGM 2026 Outreach Task Force assess the initiative’s overall reach, while feedback collected during on-campus visits will be integrated into the project’s final public report.
Organizers are urging all participating schools and households to continue engaging with the provided resources and recycling activities after the tour concludes, working to embed Commonwealth-focused learning and sustainable habits into everyday life across Antigua and Barbuda.