分类： education

On August 6, 2026, a cohort of emerging young artists from Belize City celebrated a key milestone in their creative journeys, receiving official completion certificates for the Belize Department of Youth Services’ intensive stained-glass workshop. The program is just one of more than 40 free summer skill-building initiatives rolled out by the department this year, designed to connect young people from all socioeconomic backgrounds with hands-on learning opportunities that extend far beyond traditional classroom walls.

Over three days, more than 15 local participants worked alongside experienced instructors to master the full process of stained-glass creation, from initial conceptual design to glass cutting, assembly, and finishing. Blending traditional craftsmanship with modern technical approaches, many students chose to center their final projects on Belize’s iconic national symbols, infusing centuries-old cathedral stained-glass techniques with local cultural identity. As observers watched, young creators worked with steady focus and dedication, turning raw shards of colored glass into vivid, expressive works of art.

Leading the workshop was Jokeeta Savariau, a former architectural and aviation engineer with 11 years of experience designing hands-on STEM and creative learning programs for Belizean youth. This is not Savariau’s first stained-glass initiative: two years prior, she led a successful camp in Punta Gorda that wove historical education into craft training, where participants created patterns inspired by the Underground Railroad. That program integrated lessons on transatlantic slavery and the movement toward freedom with practical learning in geometry, mathematics, and the scientific principles of glass soldering. Each year, Savariau adapts her programming to explore new fields, ranging from robotics in Punta Gorda to other creative and technical disciplines, giving young people the space to explore new interests through tangible, hands-on practice.

Kyle Miller, a youth officer with the Department of Youth Services, explained that the department chose to host this iteration of the camp in Belize City to expand access to the uncommon training to young people in the urban center. Unlike more common youth program offerings, stained-glass craftsmanship is an underdeveloped skill in Belize, meaning participants have the unique opportunity to carve out their own niche markets and entrepreneurial paths. This workshop reflects a broader strategic shift in the department’s youth programming toward supporting the development of rare, specialized competencies. By offering accessible training in these skills domestically, officials aim to nurture young people’s creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, while strengthening the overall capacity and diversity of Belize’s future workforce.

Trent Clarke, one of the workshop attendees, praised the program’s engaging, accessible structure. With one-on-one guidance from Savariau, Clarke noted that many participants leave the program confident enough to pursue stained-glass creation independently after the camp ends.
Miller emphasized that all Department of Youth Services summer camps, including the stained-glass workshop, are completely free of charge for participants, with all materials and instruction covered by the department. The programs are structured not only to build technical skills but also to foster leadership development, and department officials hope to expand the initiative in coming years to reach more young people across the country.

Beyond being a seasonal recreational activity, the workshop provides a safe, supportive space for young people to learn, create, and identify their unique strengths. As global and local job markets continue to evolve, specialized hands-on skills like stained-glass craftsmanship give Belizean youth a tangible competitive edge. Investment in accessible, skills-focused youth programming today, organizers say, is an investment in a more dynamic, innovative, and prosperous Belize for future generations.

In a transformative initiative aimed at equipping young people with marketable, unconventional skills, Belize’s Department of Youth Services (DYS) has concluded its three-day free stained glass workshop for youth in Belize City, awarding completion certificates to more than 15 local participants. By the end of the program, attendees had mastered the full process of creating stained glass art, from initial design and glass cutting to final assembly, with all projects drawing inspiration from Belize’s iconic national symbols.

This workshop is just one of over 40 free youth skill-development programs DYS has organized across the country this summer. Leading the instruction was Jokeeta Savariau, a former architectural and aviation engineer who previously worked in the United States and has dedicated 11 years to running themed youth camps across Belize. Each year, Savariau shifts the camp focus to explore new fields; past programs have covered topics ranging from robotics to traditional crafts, and she often weaves cross-disciplinary learning into hands-on activities.

Recalling a previous stained glass camp held in Punta Gorda, Savariau explained how the craft was tied to historical education: participants created patterns based on the Underground Railroad, allowing them to learn about the history of slavery and the movement toward emancipation while also applying practical geometry, mathematics, and core scientific principles to solder glass pieces safely and correctly.

DYS Youth Officer Kyle Miller noted that the choice to bring this specific workshop to Belize City was a deliberate, strategic decision. Unlike common trades taught in standard youth programs, stained glass art is rarely practiced or seen across Belize, meaning there is no saturated existing market for the craft. Miller emphasized that this gap is exactly what makes the opportunity valuable: instead of competing in crowded local industries, young artisans can carve out their own niche and “create your own market” for their work.

Trent Clarke, one of the workshop attendees, shared his positive experience of the program, saying that with Savariau’s thorough guidance, he feels confident now pursuing stained glass art independently as a potential small business. Looking ahead, Miller has issued an open call for more young Belizeans to sign up for DYS’s upcoming free skill camps, encouraging youth to take advantage of these accessible opportunities to build new talents and explore alternative career paths.

On August 5, 2026, education leaders from every corner of Belize packed the Belize City Civic Center for the second and final day of the Ministry of Education’s National EdTech Summit, a landmark two-day gathering designed to reimagine how technology integrates into the country’s education system. Following a well-attended first day that drew hundreds of practicing teachers, the second day shifted focus to school administrators and principals, centering discussions on how institutional leadership can leverage emerging digital tools to strengthen collaboration across management teams, teaching staff, and student bodies.

Held under the provocative theme “Teaching Hacks,” the summit reclaims a term most often associated with cybersecurity breaches to reframe it as a creative, efficiency-focused approach to education reform. Organizers broke the concept into four core focus areas: reworking time management to cut down on administrative busywork, expanding imaginative problem-solving in lesson design, rethinking physical and virtual learning spaces, and updating rigid curricula to meet modern student needs.

Education Minister Francis Fonseca opened the day’s proceedings by emphasizing the summit’s core purpose: creating an open, collaborative space for the Ministry of Education to engage directly with educators, school leaders, and key education stakeholders to explore how technology and teaching can intersect to improve outcomes for all Belizean students.

The event comes amid a growing global and national conversation about the need for systematic innovation across all levels of education, not just in direct classroom instruction but also in institutional planning, administrative organization, and capacity building. Participants highlighted practical use cases for emerging tools like artificial intelligence that are already shifting how teachers work. Jeanne Link, Assistant Dean at Sacred Heart Junior College, shared on-the-ground insights into AI’s impact on her campus, noting that the technology has already streamlined time-consuming tasks for faculty. “With our faculty it has been wonderful, especially in doing calculations for like key assessment analysis, in order to review a lot of information very quickly,” Link explained. “So I’ve seen it enhancing the time effectiveness of our teacher’s work. They can easily have the AI edit their work so that saves a lot of time.”

Even as educators expressed enthusiasm for the potential of new technologies, summit speakers also centered the key barriers that still stand in the way of widespread, effective implementation. Ray Lawrence, Principal of Stann Creek Ecumenical College, pointed to the critical gap in targeted capacity building for current educators as Belize transitions to a new competency-based national curriculum. “We’re asking our current educators to deliver the national curriculum, which is a competency based curriculum now, but we have not trained them,” Lawrence noted. “And so a lot of training will be necessary because if the teachers themselves don’t know how to leverage technology then how can they teach the students how to leverage technology? So that’s one of the greatest challenges between ministry, management and teachers. The teachers have the desire to do it, but they require the capacity building and so the training is important.”

Organizers framed the summit as more than just a discussion forum: it marks the official launch of a new era of cross-stakeholder partnership between school management, teaching staff, and technology partners, all aimed at strengthening institutional cohesion and improving learning outcomes. When fully implemented, participants agreed that thoughtful technology integration will create a more accessible, effective curriculum and a more supportive working environment for educators, with ripple effects that extend from classrooms to students’ homes and Belize’s future workforce. Local outlet News Five sent reporter Devin Sabal to cover the event, who filed this report on the ground from the Belize City Civic Center.

Belize’s Ministry of Education has concluded its two-day National Edtech Summit held at the Belize City Civic Center, closing out the event August 5, 2026 with focused conversations on how emerging educational technologies can reshape collaboration between school leadership, teaching staff and students. The summit brought together hundreds of education professionals across both days, with more than 500 teachers in attendance for the opening day focused on frontline educator perspectives, and the second day reserved for school administrators to explore how digital tools can improve institutional planning, cross-team communication, and data-driven decision-making.

Addressing attendees at the close of the summit, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca emphasized that the core goal of the gathering was to create an open, inclusive space for the ministry to engage directly with teachers, school leaders, and all other education stakeholders. The event was designed to foster thorough, meaningful dialogue around the growing intersection of modern education and rapidly advancing technology, he said.

Framed around this year’s theme “Teaching Hacks”, the summit redefined “hacking” not as a digital security practice, but as an innovative problem-solving approach centered on boosting efficiency across four core areas: educator time, creative imagination, learning space design, and curriculum delivery.

Multiple education leaders shared on-the-ground insights into how artificial intelligence is already shifting daily work for teachers. Jeanne Link, Assistant Dean of Sacred Heart Junior College, highlighted that AI tools are already delivering tangible relief for overstretched education staff, noting that automated AI editing and content generation can cut hours of administrative and preparatory work each week, freeing teachers to focus more energy on direct student engagement.

Still, the summit did not shy away from addressing key gaps that remain before widespread, effective AI integration can be achieved. Ray Lawrence, Principal of Stann Creek Ecumenical College, stressed that targeted, ongoing professional development for educators is a non-negotiable foundation for successful technology adoption. Lawrence argued that without proper training to help teachers themselves build fluency in leveraging AI and other edtech tools, schools cannot reasonably expect students to develop the digital skills they need to thrive in an increasingly technology-driven world.