High Schools on Saipan show they are ‘schools for environmental change’

This past month, the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance hosted climate change workshops for teachers and students from various high schools on island as part of MINA’s “Schools for Environmental Change” program.

Because climate change has become a growing concern worldwide, MINA decided to increase awareness in the CNMI through educational workshops with presentations from environmental experts on island.

Participants included students and teachers from Marianas High School, Saipan Southern High School, Mount Carmel High School, Northern Marianas Academy, and AmeriCorps.

The presenters at the workshops included Robbie Greene of Coastal Resources Management; Greg Moretti of the Pacific Marine Resources Institute; Kaitlin Mattos of the Division of Environmental Quality; Andre Kozij of Northern Marianas Academy; John Furey, long time Environmental Educator; and Wayne Andrew, former Palau Delegate and environmental activist.

Lectures and activities included the causes of climate change, its effects on land and sea, and what the community can do about it.

“I liked the presenters,” one student commented. “They provided us with a lot of good information that many of us were not aware of.”

In addition to the workshops, participants were taken on a field trip to Managaha to learn about beach erosion and how to monitor coral bleaching through “Coral Watch,” a methodology used to assess the extent of bleaching.

A student praised the trip, “I loved everything about the field trip. All the activities were great!”

One of the most important components of MINA’s “Schools for Environmental Change” was the development of Conservation Action Plans or CAPs.

These CAPs were developed by the students to help their respective school ameliorate the causes of climate change or help their school adapt to the effects of climate change.

Students presented their CAPs this past Saturday, March 23, at the American Memorial Park auditorium.

“The students came up with great Conservation Action Plans that I think will really help their school move in a positive direction towards changing their views about the environment and climate change,” said Rica Dela Cruz, one of MINA’s project managers, “It’s these smaller initiations that can really create big changes. I’m so proud of these students.”

The CAPs of the schools included planting more trees on campus, installing more recycling bins, switching classrooms and school offices to solar street lighting, controlling paper usage, and increasing student body general awareness of climate change through surveys and climate change knowledge quizzes. In order to facilitate implementation of their plans on campus, the participating schools will receive $300 from MINA to buy the necessary supplies.

“I’m very happy with the CAPs that will be implemented in the participating schools,” said Sam Sablan, MINA’s executive director, “They have shown that they really are ‘Schools for Environmental Change.’ ”