On Friday 15th August 2025, the Department of Education rolled out an appreciation ceremony with a difference — one that recognised nine student interns who had spent their summer holidays tinkering with laptops, servicing devices, and fuelling the digital heartbeat of Anguilla’s schools.
The event was as much a celebration as it was a moment of gratitude. In the audience sat teachers, education officers, IT personnel, counsellors, and technology commissioners — people who, as Chief Education Officer Mr. Bren Romney put it, have kept Project Inspire alive and thriving.
“The purpose of this afternoon’s ceremony is to express our heartfelt thanks to the remarkable individuals who have and continue to make Project Inspire a success,” Mr. Romney said in his opening remarks. He reminded the gathering that Project Inspire, launched three years ago, was not just a shiny tech initiative but a vision to “harness innovation, strengthen teaching and learning, and prepare our students and educators for the demand of it.”
Over the past month, the nine interns — recruited from Forms Four to Six—worked shoulder to shoulder with the Department’s three system technicians. The result was more than a thousand devices serviced, refurbished, and made classroom-ready, plus a fresh wave of brand-new laptops and tablets provisioned for September’s rollout.
“Without their hard work, dedication, and willingness to go the extra mile, we could not have met our deadlines,” Mr. Romney stressed. He also noted that a few interns volunteered to stay an extra two weeks to support the team.
Mrs. Khonn Hazell-Fleming, Technology Integration Coach, introduced the internship programme as more than just “summer help.” “Over the past three years, Project Inspire has grown from a visionary initiative into a connoisseur of innovation,” she explained. The interns’ work — ranging from updating inventories to preparing classrooms — ensured not just a smooth launch for the 2025/2026 academic year, but also laid the foundation for a bigger push: the creation of a student conversion team, a group of youth ambassadors tasked with spreading Project Inspire’s message across secondary schools and into the community.
Certificates of appreciation, signed by both the Department of Education and the Careers Unit, were handed out to the nine interns. Two of these interns, Sharvin Narine and Jamyoi Hodge, later spoke on behalf of themselves and the group. Narine described the experience as “a great one,” adding: “Every project and task has taught me something new, and those lessons are things I will carry forward into whatever comes next.” Hodge also recalled the camaraderie of the summer: “When we put all our minds towards it, we finished it. And I’m very thankful to be a part of this.”
Though unable to attend in person, Minister of Education Hon. Shellya Rogers-Webster sent warm congratulations to the interns for their contributions to the programme.
The ceremony also paid tribute to a pioneer: Mr. Justin Shillingford, whose quiet innovation and steady reliability at the Department of Education have been at the centre of Project Inspire’s success. Mr. Shillingford recently received a government-awarded scholarship to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Media this September.
Project Inspire has already made its mark across all six of Anguilla’s primary schools, with Morris Vanterpool Primary set to receive its long-awaited laptops this September, completing the island-wide rollout at that level. The programme has also taken root at WISE’s Campus A, supported by Ani Villas, and the momentum shows no sign of slowing. The next big leap will be the launch at Campus B during the September to December 2025 term, even as the Department of Education begins scouting funding for Campus Q and preparing for the refurbishment of devices at the Orealia Kelly Primary School, where Project Inspire first came to life.
From its beginnings, Project Inspire has grown into a defining force in Anguilla’s education system. With every laptop provisioned, every Smart Board connected, and every student equipped, the programme is shaping not just how learning happens, but how Anguilla prepares its young people for the wider world.
As Mr. Romney summed it up, “Project Inspire is proof that when we work together with purpose and passion, we can achieve remarkable things for our students, our teachers, our schools, and our nation.”
Article by Janissa Fleming
