Students write their wishes for the environment at expo

 Upon learning of the impact of littering on the island’s marine ecosystem, fifth grader Freddie Guerrero of William S. Reyes Elementary School vowed to pick up trash he sees lying around.

“I wish we don’t have trash in the ground,” wrote Guerrero in the wish banner at the exit of the 2012 Environmental Expo at the American Memorial Park on Wednesday.

Guerrero was among the over 500 students who visited the three-day expo on its second day and expressed their wishes for the environment after being educated about “green” issues and conservation methods.

“We have to pick up our trash because if we don’t, it will go to our beach and it will affect all the animals in there,” said Guerrero, 12.

The students eagerly signed the banner, posted by the exit side of the expo, and wrote different wishes, messages, including things they liked best at the expo.

Pionnah Gregorio, a fifth grader at Green Meadows School, said that people should plant trees because “one tree can give air to 10 people.”

Nine-year-old Natalie Hirshbein, also from Green Meadows, said she learned that people should “stop smoking” because it’s bad for the health and to plant more trees “because they give oxygen, food, paper, pencils, tables, and others.”

Robin Agbayani, 9, said his favorite part of the expo was seeing the brown tree snake. “It’s my first time to see one and I didn’t get scared,” said the fourth grader.

Jan Rae Salazar, fifth grader at WSR, said he learned that it’s not good to catch fish smaller than the allowed size “because if it’s smaller, it means they haven’t made baby fish yet.”

Albert Bergancia, 11, said recycling by “re-using” what’s in the trash such as plastic bottles and cans would help protect the environment too.

Fifth grader Brandon Acosta, for his part, learned that killing protected animals is “bad” because “they’re almost extinct that if they don’t stop, they’ll soon be gone.”

Wednesday’s visitors included students from Saipan Community School, Whispering Palms, Brilliant Star, Grace Christian Academy, and Oleai Elementary School, who all got the chance to learn about different topics like erosion and sedimentation, healthy hearing and proper nutrition, dental health, public safety, highway safety, coral reefs, and solar energy.

The students were assisted by their teachers and some 39 volunteers from Kagman and Saipan Southern high schools, Marianas Baptist Academy, and Grace Christian Academy.

The expo is hosted by the Division of Environmental Quality in celebration of the Environmental Awareness Month this April.

DEQ’s Jihan Buniag, one of the expo’s coordinators, said the wish banner was a new component to determine if the students absorbed whatever was presented at the various booths they visited.

Buniag said that seeing the students’ messages-ranging from ‘use less plastic’ to ‘don’t kill turtles’-“melts my heart.”

“It’s good to know that these kids have it in their minds that it’s important to protect the environment,” she told Saipan Tribune.

Katy Mattos, another event coordinator, said the wish banner demonstrates that the students understood the presentations and instilled in them a “broader picture” of issues that they can share with families and friends.

“It’s beyond what they can do; it’s how they can help the island as a whole, which is really important,” she said.

\Since the expo was held at an outdoor venue, the heat caused at least three students to faint or complain of dizziness. With these incidents, Mattos reminded students to stay hydrated, take breaks, and stay in the shade as much as possible. She said DEQ has several drinking water jugs at the site and students can take shelter under the booth tents.

The three-day expo ended yesterday with a tree planting and a recyclable fashion show.