$16,000 in Scholarships Awarded to Six 2020 USVI Graduates

$16,000 in Scholarships Awarded to Six 2020 USVI Graduates

The St. Croix Foundation has announced that $16,000 in scholarships were awarded to six St. Croix graduates this month during a virtual presentation. The Scholarships were awarded through the Patrick and Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund and SCF’s Foundation Scholars Fund. The Patrick and Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund provides scholarships to students who have had to overcome obstacles to continue their education, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and now COVID-19, according to the foundation. For more information on the scholarships, read the full article on the VI Consortium here.

VI Women of Color and the Expanding Tech Industry

VI Women of Color and the Expanding Tech Industry

USVI has been providing training opportunities for women of color to enter into the computing field. Women of color are underrepresented in this industry and UVI’s Research and Technology Park started an accelerator program that they hope will help more Virgin Islanders get involved in technology careers. The St. Croix Source reports that the program aims to help tech ideas transform into tech businesses, and 80 percent of the businesses the program accepts are local businesses. Read the Source’s interesting interviews with women of color from the V.I. in the technology field regarding their career paths and how they think more women in the territory can get involved in tech here.

Local Jewelry Maker “Adopts” an Elementary School

Local Jewelry Maker “Adopts” an Elementary School

Christiansted jewelry maker ib designs gave the students at Lew Muckle Elementary School students another gift as part of its community service project. This started shortly after Hurricane Maria when the owner of the ib designs Kris Massicott found out the school’s art teacher needed supplies. Through the years, the local business has donated supplies and other items. Recently, when the jewelry maker found out that there was no playground for the kindergarten classes, the ib designs family took on the mission to help. To read the full story on St. Croix Source, click here.

24th Annual Mango Melee

24th Annual Mango Melee

This year’s Mango Melee celebration became a virtual event, and even had part of the event broadcast live on Facebook. Taking place at the St. George Village Botanical Gardens of St. Croix, the event accommodated a small group of attendees who practiced social distancing and other precautions to enjoy the celebration. Attendees from across the U.S. Virgin Islands and abroad tuned in for the virtual event. To read the full article go to St. Croix Source.

Copenhagen May Name New Streets for USVI Heroes

Copenhagen May Name New Streets for USVI Heroes

St. Croix Source recently reported that a mayor in Copenhagen has be in discussion of a plan to consider new streets to be named after USVI heroes in the wake of worldwide Black Lives Matter protests, sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Heroes of the 1848 revolt that led Gov. Peter Von Scholten to emancipate unfree Virgin Islanders, and leaders of the 1878 Fireburn labor revolt that forced the government to eliminate serf-like restrictions on Black workers, are among the Virgin Islanders being considered. To read the full article here.

American Kestrels’ Courting and Mating Season in USVI

American Kestrels’ Courting and Mating Season in USVI

Gail Karlsson, environmental lawyer, writer and photographer and author of The Wild Life in an Island House recounts her observations during the American Kestrel’s courting and mating season in USVI. American Kestrels are small falcons that are common western hemisphere birds that nest in varied habitats from Alaska down through South America. They also are year-round residents in the Virgin Islands. Read more here on the St. Croix Source.