Joni Alice Miller

Born on May 23, 1970, to Steve and Dodie Miller, Joni was the oldest of four siblings. From a young age, she loved to travel, study abroad, and learn about life from different perspectives, while becoming fluent in French and Spanish, and expanding her understanding of history, culture, literature, and cuisine. A stellar student, Joni studied at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, earning a First-Class B.A. in French and History in 1993, and a Post-B.A. Professional Secondary Teacher Education Degree in 1996. Later during her teaching career, she completed a Master of Education in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta in 2005. 

Joni began her love for teaching in 1997 at Stelly’s Secondary in Saanichton, B.C., Canada, which served both as a school and family for Joni, who regularly told stories from this special time in her life. During her nine years at Stelly’s, Joni taught Social Studies, French, Spanish, and Global Perspectives, and led international service-learning experiences.

In 2005, Joni was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. She battled cancer with determination and reflection and began spending more time in a place she loved: Caye Caulker, Belize.  It was during this time that I met Joni. Having heard of her love for teaching, I approached her in January of 2008 to ask if she would like to join me to open a high school. Initially, she said she loved the idea, but would not be able to partner. In pure Joni style of private strength, she never mentioned that the reason she had to say no was because she was fighting cancer. A month later, she came to see me and said let’s do this. She had figured out how to rearrange her life—including leaving a safe, stable teaching job at Stelly’s—to dive into the deep end to start a school on a small island with no funding, because the kids had no other options. I will never forget our excitement that morning.  We talked for hours … and never stopped for the next eleven years of partnership.  

Through a combination of passion, adrenaline, periodic visits to her doctors in Canada, a dose of what Joni would call her strategic use of “denial”, and an insatiable desire to provide high-quality experiential learning to the youth of Caye Caulker, Joni gave her absolute all for eleven years. She sold everything she owned and moved full-time to Belize. We partnered with Dane Dingerson and founded Ocean Academy. Joni filled her days, her weekends, and her vacations planning, fundraising, training, teaching, and building a local, national, and international network of people to educate a generation of youth.

Joni’s remarkable ability to see and bring out the best in others’ desires and abilities to “give back” created the bedrock that nurtured the development of our vision to bring to Caye Caulker what had made such a difference in our own lives: access to a meaningful education. On a daily basis, Joni pedaled her bike around the Caye, crafted emails to send around the world, and arranged visits to our campus, all with the same mission: to benefit the students of Ocean Academy. 

Many of you reading this account know Joni because she found you, talked with you, told you about her amazing students, and connected you to the path of making a life-changing difference. Or perhaps you are a past student who spent long hours with Ms. Miller preparing an application for an opportunity that she convinced you was not outside of your reach. You may be a teacher who benefitted from Joni’s quiet brilliance in designing courses, units, and lessons that changed the course of students’ lives. Joni energized us, inspired us, and made us better. 

Through her relentless drive, Joni successfully realized her dream—to provide Ocean Academy students with endless opportunities to grow: grants, scholarships, awards, field trips, competitions, internships, mentors, certifications, electives, trainings, and guest speakers to name a few. Joni loved to raise the bar of what OA could achieve by fearlessly entering competitions including the Innovation Challenge in which students brought home four first-place wins; the U.S. Embassy’s Central American Youth Ambassadors through which OA students studied and traveled in the U.S.; FIRST Global Robotics, in which she co-led the OA-Belize High School team to compete in Mexico City; and countless grant applications including two U.S. Embassy CARSI awards. 

One of our most cherished memories together took place in 2014 at the Beyond Sport Global Summit in Johanessburg, South Africa, when the announcer unveiled the winner of the International Sport for Education award. As a tiny, barely funded school, we had been humbled to be a finalist among established organizations from around the world. As soon as we heard the “O” coming from the microphone, we could hardly believe our ears. That UNICEF-funded award validated and catapulted the ideas we had developed for students to earn and learn through school businesses that linked to island life. Joni believed in Ocean Academy. She believed in me. She believed in our teachers, our students, and our island. She believed in Belize. She pushed us to great heights that remain with us always. 

Beyond Sport Summit 2014, Receiving UNICEF-funded Sport in Education Award

Joni’s love for children extended beyond campus and led to her adopting Naijah whom she cherished and nurtured into an amazing teenager who now lives in Canada. Joni loved to spend time with Naijah swimming, reading, traveling, and laughing. They shared an amazing bond and love that inspired us all.  

Naijah and Joni, 2019

After selflessly giving eleven years to the development of Ocean Academy as Projects Director, Joni returned to Canada in 2019 where she once again battled cancer and outlived all doctors’ expectations for another five years. During that time, she continued to support OA efforts from afar while reconnecting with friends and family, especially those from Stelly’s, and her devoted sister Laurie and lifelong friend Cam who comforted her to the peaceful end. 

During that time, she continued to support OA efforts from afar while reconnecting with her parents; her brothers Jeremey and Joshua; her nieces Violet, Amelia, and Evelyn; her nephews Avi, Joseph and Hayden; her friends from Stelly’s and childhood; and especially her devoted sister Laurie and lifelong friend Cam who comforted her to the peaceful end.

Good bye, sweet Joni. You are irreplaceable and remain in my heart always. I miss your witty humor, compassionate ear, unending support, direct honesty, endless ideas, impeccable grammar, meticulous work ethic, chocolate addiction, life-long love for learning, and most of all, your sisterhood. May you rest in peace and bask in love, dear friend.

Joni in South Africa, 2014