Miss Marianas joins coin, geography workshop

The Mariana Stamp and Coin Club hosted a coin workshop last Saturday at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library to teach people of all ages about geography through foreign coins donated to the American Red Cross NMI Chapter.

Geography was taught by letting the children glue the foreign coins to the country where they came from on a map which would be displayed in the public library for visitors to see.

Miss Marianas 2016 Peachy Quitugua could not help but stand out among the attendees of the workshop. She said she is fascinated by the the amount of foreign coins donated to the American Red Cross NMI Chapter.

“I think it was a very eye-opening event. To see the visitors from all around the world visiting Saipan. It feels really good to know that people know about our islands,” said Quitugua.

Quitugua also thinks that workshops such as these are useful to her by increasing her knowledge about foreign countries that she might encounter in the near future. “I stumbled upon a lot of countries that I didn’t know existed, along with their locations. I think this would really help me a lot.”

Quitugua is currently starting preparations for her next competition, Miss International, which is to be held in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 27 this year.

“I am doing stuff like this [coin workshop], like getting to know other countries because I would get to meet a lot of people. I am also fixing my public speaking, because I have to speak a lot. Just fixing my stage presence and getting to know more about my island because I am going to represent the CNMI.”

John Hirsch, executive director of the ARC NMI Chapter, expressed his gratitude not only to the Mariana Stamp and Coin Club, but also to those who donated.

“The Red Cross, for many years on the island, has been placing small coin boxes in different stores. Like they say in fundraising, every penny counts—literally. So we’re really grateful to anyone who puts their change into the coin boxes,” said Hirsch. “Over time, in addition to U.S. coins, people particularly tourists, drop foreign coins. Unfortunately, we really can’t take those coins to the bank and exchange them for U.S. currency.”

Steven Connor, founder of the Mariana Stamp and Coin Club, shared that the main goal of the coin workshop is to teach the children not only about geography, but also about how big the world really is.

“The main thing is for children to learn about coins, the images on the coin, what they mean, where they came from, and how they got here. This is so that they appreciate that we are all part of one world. We’re not stuck in an island out here, where nobody knows where we are,” said Connor.