Special Envoy’s Wonder Woman is exemplary educator, Shantell Yearwood

By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: The Special Envoy for the development of families and children, Rossana Briceno features outstanding Belizean women making a difference in Belize every week.

Today’s feature is on exemplary educator, Shantell Yearwood.

Yearwood is a servant leader in many ways but especially in her work for families and students with disabilities, which has become the driving force behind all she does and endeavors to be. 

Shantell is a mother of 2, lover of plants, animals and has been a dedicated educator for the past 21 years. Eight of those years were spent in the regular classroom as an English-Literature teacher and the remainder as a special education officer.

Yearwood is a God-fearing woman who believes “With God all things are possible” as such, she has been able to use her life’s experiences, both negative and positive, to mold her into the passionate and dedicated woman she is today. 

Her challenging stories, navigating her own personal educational journey from a single mother home on a very low-income budget has been her inspirational testimony to many of her students who she challenges to “never give up”. 

Shantell graduated from the University of Belize in 2007 with the highest GPA in the faculty of Education and Arts and the second highest GPA of all graduating students that year.  She later went on to pursue a master’s in education from Bridgewater State University.

Her educational career began in 2001, a year after her mother died from cervical cancer, as an English and Literature teacher at Ladyville Technical High School, in the Belize District.

Shantell became a teacher at a very young age, but she always knew that this was the career path she wanted.

Her love and desire to make a positive change in the lives of youths, particularly those with disabilities, comes from the experienced she has had with her little sister who is 38.

Natalia, aka “Natty” who has Down syndrome is one of her greatest inspirations to fight for the rights of persons with disabilities.  Her little sister went to Stella Maris (but discontinued) during a time when people lacked a lot of knowledge about special education and disabilities.  Shantell has literally seen the education system evolve over the years to gradually be more inclusive and embracing of persons with disabilities.

Her desire to be an advocate for change in Belize led her to the Special Education Unit in 2009. 

With over 13 years’ professional experience in Special Education, lifetime experience as an advocate and a Master’s in Education (concentration Special Education), she has been able to use her expertise and knowledge to help many Belizean families find school placement for their children with disabilities.

She has worked in both the Orange Walk and Belize Districts as a special education officer, conducting assessments, sensitizing schools and families and working to ensure that Belize becomes a more inclusive society where persons with disabilities can become fully integrated and productive citizens. 

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