Previous Story
Environmental Expo nets 1,000
The Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality hosted its 8th Annual Environmental Expo last Wednesday and Thursday as part of Environmental Awareness Month, attracting over 1,000 elementary school students from various schools in the CNMI.
Throughout the two-day event, students from grades four through six participated.
“The goal of the expo is basically to help kids understand that there are a number of environmental initiative going on in the CNMI and to give them ideas of the certain things that are going on,” said Malarie Muña, Division of Coastal Resource Management communications specialist.
According to Muña, the expo also doubled as a potential job expo.
“It’s almost like a career expo too because it shows people that there are a number of different careers that you can get into in the environmental sector,” she said.
The expo included 12 exhibitors from BECQ, Northern Marianas College, Department of Lands and Natural Resources, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
Throughout the expo, students were required to visit every exhibit and view a short lecture and activities offered by the exhibit’s presenter.
The participants of the expo included all the public elementary school students and students from Northern Marianas International School and Saipan Community School. This was the first year that private school students were incorporated into the event.
Muña said the program normally reaches out to fourth through sixth graders because the goal is to start environmental preservation advocacy at a young age.
“Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, that is mostly our audience for stuff like this because we basically want to show kids that there are different organizations and environmental initiatives out there and we also want to give them an idea of things they can aspire to be,” she said.
