REMARKABLE BELIZEAN STATESMAN & CYCLING MENTOR!
The name “Stans Bowman” in Belizean sports and education circles carries with it much admiration and respect in terms of the incredible Belizean nation-builder that he is. The reasons for this admiration range from his personal quest to make the Belize Cycling Association rise to excellent standards, to his being the torch carrier for the internationally-acclaimed Belize Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic, to his status as one of Belize’s most brilliant and accomplished vocational education experts who has not only established fine principles for Belize’s vocational training foundations for many years now, but has also built successful vocational schools in Belize with amazing results to show for it.
Stans Bowman began his professional career in 1974, being employed by the Belize Customs Department, and later moving on to become an educator at the former Belize Junior Secondary School #1, now E. P. Yorke High School in Belize City. Through his outstanding work in education he received a Professional/Technical Scholarship in 1979 from the Canadian government that came through the Belize Ministry of Education and Sports, where he studied Mechanical Engineering in Jamaica at the College of Arts, Science & Technology (CAST).
Alongside his educational pursuits Bowman became a member of the Belize Amateur Cycling Association as a competitive cyclist working track races, road races and the Annual Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic.
Expanding his human development as an educator, Bowman continued to teach in the Belizean education after his return from school in Jamaica at BJSS #1, now E. P. Yorke High School, where he later became the acting principal in 1988. In that capacity he provided the educational leadership that transitioned BJSS #1 to a full fledged four-year Belizean high school that is now E. P. Yorke High School.
Done with competitive cycling as an athlete and cyclist, he stepped up and became the Vice President of the Belize Amateur Cycling Association in 1982, beginning a coaching career in Belizean cycling, assisting Belizean cyclists to develop their athletic standards and conditioning.
Concurrently juggling his educational pursuits with sports development in Belize, Bowman set off for the University of Wisconsin in 1990, winning a scholarship from the United States Agency for Development (USAID) under the Training for Employment & Productivity Program (TEP) that earned him a Bachelor’s of Science (BSC) degree in Vocational, Technical & Adult Education. Through his newly acquired educational skills as a vocational education expert, Bowman became the assistant manager for Belize City’s Center for Employment Training (CET) after his return home to Belize. At CET he went off again to obtain training on the CET model in San Diego, California, attending several associations of career expos sponsored by USAID. He also represented Belize in various technical, vocational and adult education conferences in the Caribbean, Central America, South Korea and the U.S.
Winning a Fulbright scholarship in 1994 from the U.S. Embassy in Belize to pursue training in trade and industrial education at Oklahoma State University, Bowman earned a Master’s degree that also had him winning the most outstanding student award through the university’s school of education. Later, the Belize Ministry of Education promoted him as manager of the Belize City’s Center for Employment Training. His graduate degree and enhanced training endowed him with the management and supervision skills in technical and vocational education schools and facilities that also allowed him to develop useful knowledge about the TVET skills training.
With specialized training in Taiwan in 1997 in precision machining, Bowman consistently brought in much needed development to Belize’s vocational education training, thus providing Belize with a homegrown, trained expert in the field as the nation of Belize embarked on critical nation building and development of its human resources and capital.
Bowman found time in his busy work schedule to continue to assist with the sport of cycling in Belize, where he was elected the president of the Belize Cycling Association. This became an opportunity for him to bring his excellent management skills to Belizean cycling that made him develop notable changes in the improvement of Belizean cycling. He made changes to the Belize Cross Country Cycling Classic in the areas of service zones, servicing from a motor vehicle, regulated service vehicles and