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Adaejah Hodge to Represent BVI at World Athletics U20 Championships in Peru

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The British Virgin Islands will be represented by rising track star Adaejah Hodge at the World Athletics U20 Championships, set to take place in Lima, Peru, from August 27th to 31st.

Hodge, who has been a standout athlete for the BVI, will compete in the 100m and 200m events. Her 100m race is scheduled for Tuesday, August 27 at 10:10 AM, followed by the 200m on Thursday, August 29th at 11:15 AM. Hodge will be guided by World Athletics certified coach, Ms. Ericca Frederick, who has played a crucial role in developing Hodge’s talent from a young age.

The BVI has a history of strong performances at the World Athletics U20 Championships. In 2022, athletes Wanyae Belle and Akrisa Eristee competed in the sprints, continuing the territory’s tradition of excellence on the global stage. One of the most notable achievements came in 2016 when Kyron McMaster, OBE, earned a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Before that, in 2013, a team consisting of Nelda Huggins, Taylor Hill, Tarika Moses, Lakeisha Warner, and Jonel Lacey secured a silver medal in the Sprint Medley 1000m in Donetsk, Ukraine.

The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial event that brings together the world’s best young athletes. Organized by World Athletics, the governing body for the sport, the competition is open to athletes under 20 years of age as of December 31st of the competition year. The event, which began as the IAAF World Junior Championships in 1986, was rebranded in 2015 as the IAAF U20 Championships. In the 2022 edition, held at Pascual Guerrero Stadium in Cali, Colombia, approximately 1,500 athletes from 140 teams participated.

For updates on Hodge’s performance and other event details, follow the BVI Athletics Association’s Facebook page and visit worldathletics.org.

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Minister Rymer Briefed on Airport Infrastructure Enhancements

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Minister of Communications and Works, Honourable Kye Rymer, has received a briefing on recent infrastructural upgrades completed at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.

The update was provided by Mr Kurt Menal, Managing Director of the BVI Airports Authority (BVIAA), who highlighted key improvements designed to enhance passenger experience and operational efficiency at the Territory’s main airport.

Among the completed upgrades is the installation of a new luggage conveyor belt and expanded baggage collection area. The upgraded system has a greater capacity than the previous setup, aimed at improving the flow of passengers through the arrivals process.

Mr Menal also pointed to the commissioning of a modern sewage treatment plant, which has the capacity to accommodate up to 500,000 passengers annually. The environmentally sustainable system supports the BVIAA’s broader objectives of expanding airport capacity while meeting international environmental standards.

“The BVIAA continues to meet the safety and regulatory requirements outlined in the Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) Order 2001 and other applicable instruments,” Mr Menal said. “We are also focused on maintaining an environment that fosters employee excellence and high standards of service.”

The infrastructure enhancements form part of the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the Territory’s transportation network and prepare for anticipated increases in passenger traffic.

 

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Education

Twelve Primary Schools Advance to Final Round of 2025 Spelling Bee

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Twelve primary schools in the Virgin Islands have secured places in the final round of the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports’ 2025 Spelling Bee Competition, scheduled to take place on 4 June.

The finalists were selected from a group of 17 schools that participated in the preliminary round, which featured a total of 34 students. Competitors prepared by studying a word list comprising approximately 3,000 words ahead of the event.

The final round of the competition will be streamed live on the official Facebook page of the Government of the Virgin Islands.

A recording of the preliminary round is also available for viewing on the same platform, at BVIGovernment.

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BVI Officials Host Panel on Early Childhood Development Challenges and Solutions

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Officials from the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports in the British Virgin Islands recently convened a panel discussion addressing the challenges and opportunities in early childhood development across the Territory.

The panel brought together voices from education, health, and the private sector. Participants included Chief Education Officer Mrs Orlandette Crabbe; Consultant Paediatrician in the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA) Dr Natasha Frett; Founder of Imagination Academy VI Ms Sharia de Castro; and Education Officer responsible for Early Childhood Development Ms Kimberly George.

The session focused on the importance of early childhood education and the need for strategic approaches to prepare young children with both academic and non-academic skills.

Chief Education Officer Mrs Crabbe emphasised the value of foundational skills in preparing children for formal schooling.

“In formal schooling we start from the very beginning, but let me tell you what we want,” Mrs Crabbe said. “We want a child that can listen, and follow instructions, who can relate to their peers without throwing a tantrum and falling down because they have to share a pencil or crayon.”

She continued, “We want our centres to be empowered to focus on what matters, and those are those non-academic skills that come about through engagement in a child’s natural environment, which is play.”

Education Officer Ms Kimberly George echoed this sentiment, reinforcing the Ministry’s focus on long-term impact.

“In the Ministry, we worked to add the tagline ‘Early Learning, Lifelong Impact’ because we believe that early learning does have a lifelong impact on our children in the future,” she said. “As a Ministry, we are committed to ensuring that students receive the quality learning experience that they deserve at that level.”

From the health sector, Dr Natasha Frett provided insight on brain development in early childhood and its connection to future learning.

“I am sure many of you would have heard that in the first five years of life, it is very critical for mental and brain development,” Dr Frett stated. “It is during that time that about 90 percent of the brain is being developed, under the age of five. Here we have this opportunity where you have all these neural pathways and connections being formed.”

Dr Frett described this period as “a perfect opportunity to develop certain learning skills—cognitive learning skills, social learning skills—all of these are very important for the age of five because the brain is maturing.”

Founder of Imagination Academy VI Ms Sharia de Castro contributed her perspective from the private education sector, calling for a shift from traditional instruction to more interactive, skill-based learning.

“I think we have to move away from the culture that is quick to put a pencil into their hand and give them a worksheet,” Ms de Castro said. “Instead, give them interactive experiences where their whole body is engaged.”

She explained, “For example, if we are focusing on letter identification or formation, instead of giving them a pencil and asking them to do that, we give them some playdough and ask them to form it instead—because we are building finger muscles and everything that we need for later learning.”

The panel discussion was part of Early Childhood Awareness Week. The full video is available for public viewing on the Government’s official Facebook page at BVIGovernment.

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