PSS media campaign to focus on school facilities

The Public School System is gearing up once again for another segment of its one-hour media campaign and is inviting the CNMI community to watch the program.

Federal programs advisor Tim Thornburgh said the second part of the TV campaign would include the condition of school facilities in the CNMI, including schools on Tinian and Rota. He said the team already went to Tinian last Wednesday and spoke to principals and school staff. The crew from Glimpses Advertising Saipan, a local production outfit, filmed the schools on that island.

Thornburgh said the team, composed of acting Commissioner of Education David M. Borja and Glimpses crewmembers, will also go to Rota this Tuesday to feature all the schools on the island. He said the second part of the media campaign would highlight the successes of these schools despite the shortage of funding for maintenance and upgrade of schools facilities.

The Federal programs adviser said the program aims to gather recommendations from all the schools to justify the PSS’ application for a $50 million loan from the federal government.

According to Thornburgh, the second part of the series will be aired at the end of this month or early December. The first of the series was shown last Oct. 19 on KMCV Channel 7. Borja earlier said KMCV would be airing an “infomercial” about the school system in the CNMI, its successes, and the challenges confronting PSS.

Borja said the media campaign would provide parents with an overview of the status of the CNMI school system. “Parents need to know why PSS is asking for money,” he said. Borja said the media campaign would air on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in a fortnight.

Besides showcasing the achievements of PSS, the program will underscore the need to better help the education system in the CNMI. The target audiences for the “infomercial” are primarily the parents but it also aims to inform students and school staff of what really is going on in their respective schools.

The first part of the four-part series started off with the safe and orderly condition of the schools, making it a more conducive working and learning environment. Funding for the “infomercial” came from the previous federal consolidation grants for the CNMI school system.

Borja clarified earlier that the money used in the project has been earmarked a long time ago to comply with federal requirement under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. He said the federal grant required the project to disseminate information about the status of the local education system, its successes and challenges.