Students Awarded for Cultural Research at One Communications Office

May 18, 2025

Students from the St. Croix Educational Complex participate in the cultural competition. (Source photo by Diana Dias)

The Virgin Islands Education Department’s Division of Virgin Islands Cultural Education held a celebratory event Friday at the One Communications office on St. Croix, highlighting the accomplishments of students who participated in a unique cultural competition. The event was held in partnership with One Communications, a key collaborator in this year’s initiative.

The Division, which is committed to integrating local heritage into all academic disciplines, particularly the sciences, used the opportunity to award prizes to student winners and recognize all participants with certificates of achievement from across the territory. Present were students from the St. Croix Educational Complex, Alfredo Elementary School, Pearl B. Larsen Elementary School and more. In a new feature this year, QR codes were provided to showcase students’ presentations, allowing attendees to access and appreciate their research digitally.

Alfredo Andrews Elementary School students scored big at the event, winning three awards. (Source photo by Diana Dias)

Marketing Coordinator Kafi Armstrong emphasized the importance of local corporate engagement, stating, “I think it’s very important for a company, especially a local company, to be in touch with its community. And our children, our youth, are definitely our future. So why not invest in them?”

State Director Stephanie Chalana Brown, who leads the Division of Virgin Islands Cultural Education, explained that the division operates within the broader Education Department’s Curriculum and Instruction division. “We try to make sure that we integrate national standards with our local standards,” said Brown.

State Director Stephanie Chalana Brown, who leads the Division of Virgin Islands Cultural Education. (Source photo by Diana Dias)

She further explained the importance of incorporating heritage across various subject areas. “We began to think about how the division has a standard for Virgin Islands culture and how to infuse science, math, agriculture, CTE — all with heritage studies — because they’re all intertwined,” she said.

This year’s competition offered three challenge categories: a Door Challenge, a Sustainability Challenge, and the VI Ancestry Challenge. While participation in the Door Challenge was limited, with only one student entry from the St. Thomas district, the other two challenges saw a much higher level of engagement.

SharraMae Estigo, a Special Education teacher, and her students contributed meaningfully to the project, which featured interactive elements, including QR codes on her submitted door design.

Student Door winner from the St. Thomas/St. John district is SharraMae Estigo. (Source photo by Diana Dias)

Brown highlighted the VI Ancestry Challenge as particularly impactful, thanks in part to support from the Community Foundation, which provided access to the American Ancestors platform, a genealogical research tool. “Students can access census records and explore genealogy, but only on a VIDE platform,” she noted. “This research helps them understand whose stories get told and why, encouraging them to consider careers in anthropology, archaeology, and genealogy.”

Navigating historical records, however, was not without challenges. “It was a hard challenge going through census records, and students didn’t always understand everything,” Brown said. “We offered professional development, but teachers still needed assistance, especially in classrooms with 20 or 30 students. Records were sometimes incomplete, or names misspelled, which made the process even more complex.”

Parents, family, and the staff of One Communication and other community members show support for the culture competition winners. (Source photo by Diana Dias)

Still, the dedication of teachers and the enthusiasm of students shone through. “A lot of our teachers who participated this year did so by turning the project into a grade-weighted assignment,” Brown explained. “It was wonderful. We got to see how standards actually come down and trickle into the classroom.”

One participant, Trinity Pickering, said about a challenge, “We did the Sustainably Challenge, and in that we took things from our classroom to represent the natural resources, and we did a video where we took a project from our class, which was plants.”

“We talked about how it was important. I learned that cultural diversity is an important thing in our culture,” she continued.

Dan Montella and Trinity Pickering from the Pearl B. Larsen Elementary School, two competitors. (Source photo by Diana Dias)

Reflecting on the event’s success, Brown shared her excitement. “This is the largest number of students we’ve had so far. In the first and second years, we didn’t have as much participation. I am so happy to see all the kids and their parents who came out today,” said Brown.

Armstrong also welcomed community engagement beyond the event, adding, “We are always excited to have people in our space at all times. So if you’re at home or anywhere and you feel like stopping by, just come in and see the new store. We welcome you.”

Here is a list of this year’s winners:

Antonio Blanco
Alfredo Andrews School
Horace Clarke