标签： Antigua and Barbuda

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda – A promising young culinary talent from St. Mary’s Secondary School has taken his first major step toward a professional hospitality career, launching a six-week hands-on internship at the luxury Hermitage Bay resort as an early milestone in the 2026 Taste of Wadadli Junior Chef Academy.

Aleka Lewis Jr. began his on-the-job training July 13, working directly under the guidance of Hermitage Bay’s Executive Chef Desroy Spence through the end of the internship period on August 21. Unlike traditional classroom-based learning, this placement immerses Lewis in the fast-paced daily operations of a high-end professional kitchen, giving him the chance to build technical skills and industry insight that cannot be learned from textbooks alone.

The internship is not an isolated opportunity, but a core foundational component of the broader Junior Chef Academy initiative, which is structured to groom emerging young culinary talent across Antigua and Barbuda for long-term careers in hospitality. Following the conclusion of all participant internships, the academy will move to its final competitive phase: a high-stakes cook-off competition scheduled to run from August 25 to 28. The entire 2026 programme will wrap with a formal closing ceremony on September 3, where participants will be recognized for their hard work and growth over the course of the initiative.

At the end of the cook-off, one standout competitor will earn the title of the academy’s Top Junior Chef. Along with this prestigious recognition, the winner will secure a once-in-a-lifetime international opportunity: the chance to represent Antigua and Barbuda at the 2027 Junior Lit’l Chef Camp in Turks and Caicos. This international opportunity is made possible through a cross-regional partnership between the organizing bodies of the Taste of Wadadli programme and the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association.

The 2026 Taste of Wadadli Junior Chef Academy is a collaborative effort, hosted by three key partners: the Antigua and Barbuda Hotels and Tourism Association, the Ted Isaac Family, and Global Ports Holding, which operates Antigua Cruise Port. From its inception, the initiative has centered on a clear core mission: to identify and nurture homegrown young culinary talent, and to encourage more young people in the country to pursue sustainable, rewarding careers in the thriving local hospitality and tourism sector.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — July 24, 2026 — The University of the West Indies (UWI) Press has announced that one of its flagship 2025 publications has earned international acclaim, taking home silver honors in the 28th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

Titled *History Matters: Reassembling the Fragments of a Contested Past – In Honour of Bridget Brereton*, the edited volume claimed the Silver Winner distinction in the Adult Nonfiction History category. The collection, assembled by three UWI-based academics — Dr. Heather Cateau, Dr. Rita Pemberton, and Dr. Ronald Noel — centers on celebrating the transformative career of Bridget Brereton, one of the Caribbean’s most influential modern historians whose work has reshaped global understandings of the region’s past.

Across the volume’s collected essays, contributors unpack under-explored dimensions of Caribbean history, spanning economic structures, social dynamics, political evolution, and cultural identity formation. The volume’s analytical framing mirrors Brereton’s own scholarly approach, which prioritizes nuance, contextual depth, and a commitment to unpacking the complexities of contested historical narratives rather than oversimplifying the region’s past.

The Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards stand as one of the most prestigious recognitions for independent and university press publishing in North America and beyond. Each year, the awards program highlights exceptional works released over the prior calendar year from small independent publishing houses and academic presses, a segment of the industry that often produces niche and high-impact scholarship that receives less mainstream attention. Winners for the 2025 publishing cycle were announced earlier in July 2026 by Foreword Reviews, the leading trade journal focused exclusively on coverage of independent publishing.

In a statement following the award announcement, Christine Randle, Managing Director of UWI Press, emphasized the unique meaning of the international recognition. “This honor carries special significance, as *History Matters* pays tribute to the remarkable life and legacy of Bridget Brereton, one of the Caribbean’s most distinguished historians. We are delighted that the book has received international recognition from Foreword Reviews and extend heartfelt congratulations to the editors and contributors. This achievement highlights the global importance of Caribbean scholarship and reinforces the value of safeguarding and exploring our collective past.”

Michelle Schingler, Editor-in-Chief of Foreword Reviews, noted that competition for the 2026 awards was stiffer than ever before. “Each year, as our number of entrants increases and diversifies, the task of narrowing each genre category to a select few finalists gets harder. But that also makes the judges’ ultimate selections all the more exciting. We so look forward to their final choices, and we are proud to celebrate this year’s exemplary slate of winners,” Schingeton said.

Founded in 1992, UWI Press operates as a not-for-profit scholarly publisher focused on advancing research across 14 academic fields, with particular global recognition for its deep catalog of work focused on Caribbean history, cultural studies, literature, gender studies, education, and political science. All UWI Press publications undergo rigorous peer review and approval from an editorial committee made up of leading local and international scholars. To date, the press has more than 350 titles in print, with over 100 available through major e-book platforms including Kindle and Kobo, and it launched a dedicated mobile reading app for both iOS and Android devices in 2023. Over the past two decades, UWI Press titles have earned more than 80 international, regional, and national awards for excellence in scholarship, editing, and production.

The award comes as UWI, the parent institution of UWI Press, continues to cement its status as the Caribbean’s leading English-speaking research university. Established in 1948 as a small medical college affiliated with the University of London in Jamaica, UWI has grown dramatically over 75 years to serve nearly 50,000 students across five physical campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda, and the online Global Campus, plus it maintains partnership research centers with leading higher education institutions across North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Today, the university offers more than 1,000 academic programs ranging from professional certificates to doctoral degrees across nine broad academic divisions, and it holds a consistent place in the Times Higher Education (THE) global rankings, having been included annually since 2018. It is the only English-speaking Caribbean university to be featured in four of THE’s most prestigious ranking lists: the overall World University Rankings, which evaluates more than 2,000 research-focused institutions globally; the Golden Age University Rankings for universities founded between 50 and 80 years ago; the Latin America and Caribbean Regional Rankings; and the Impact Rankings, which assess institutional contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This international recognition has supported the launch of UWI’s new International School for Development Justice, a global online graduate school focused on training future leaders for equitable and sustainable development across the Global South. As an SDG-engaged institution, UWI consistently ranks among the top universities globally for its advancement of the UN’s sustainable development agenda. More information about the university and its programs is available at www.uwi.edu.

Secondary schools across Antigua and Barbuda have been invited to participate in a region-wide agricultural video competition that offers significant cash rewards for winning teams, launched by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The CARICOM Regional High School Youth in Agriculture Video Competition requires participating institutions to craft an original, engaging one-minute video created by students. Entries must center on student-led agricultural production projects, and clearly articulate the critical role that agriculture plays in sustaining local communities, national economies, and the broader Caribbean regional ecosystem. For emerging winners, the rewards are structured as $1,700 for the first-place team, $1,300 for second place, and $1,000 for the third-place finisher.

According to a statement from the CARICOM Secretariat, the competition serves multiple core strategic goals. Beyond celebrating high-performing agricultural education programs already operating at secondary schools across the region, organizers aim to raise awareness of sustainable farming practices and open young people’s eyes to agriculture as a viable, rewarding professional path and entrepreneurial opportunity. Too often framed as a declining industry, the competition seeks to reframe agriculture as an innovative, essential sector that welcomes young new talent.

This initiative is not a solo effort by CARICOM: it is a collaborative project developed alongside the CARICOM Youth Advisory Body, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. This cross-organizational partnership brings together expertise in youth engagement, global agricultural development, regional research, and agricultural cooperation to support the competition’s mission.

Aspiring participating schools have ample time to prepare their submissions, with a final entry deadline set for September 4, 2026. Full official competition guidelines and all required entry information are currently available for review directly through the CARICOM Secretariat for interested institutions.