Project HOPE returns for spring

File photo shows participants of the Friends of the Mariana Trench’s Project HOPE (Healthy Ocean & People Empowerment), an ocean science program for CNMI sixth graders. (Contributed Photo)

The Friends of the Mariana Trench is excited to announce that student registration has been extended to April 9 for Project HOPE (Healthy Ocean & People Empowerment), an ocean science program for CNMI sixth graders funded by a grant from the Administration of Native Americans and made available through a partnership with the Public School System. There is no cost for student participation. Registration is open through April 9. Orientation will be held April 12 and is mandatory for all participants. Learning will begin on April 19.

Project HOPE learning sessions will take place weekly for approximately eight weeks of activities. Environment and Natural Resources Organization students, together with ocean elders, will work closely with outreach specialists that will engage sixth-graders in a six-hour hands-on learning sessions every Monday at the Guma Sakman in Susupe. Students will also participate in a stewardship project of their own creation, which will span the duration of the program. Project HOPE will conclude with weeklong ocean camp held June 14-18 in coordination with Micronesia Islands Nature Alliance and 500 Sails.

“The goal of Project HOPE is to make a crucial and complex subject like ocean conservation more accessible to our students,” said FOMT executive director and Project HOPE director Laurie Peterka. “We believe that by creating fun, hands-on ocean science activities and incorporating local community members from multiple generations, we can help our students envision themselves as the CNMI’s next wave of ocean protectors.”

Project HOPE learning teams consist of ocean elders, college students, and sixth graders. FOMT is pleased and grateful to acknowledge those who are continuing or joining us for our second cohort. Returning for a second round in our ocean elders circle we welcome back Antonio U. Piailug, Joseph A. Omar, and Frances Sablan and joining us for spring will be Oscar Sablan and Tony Pangelinan. In support of our ocean elders, Project HOPE sessions will be facilitated by Northern Marianas College ENRO students Dhalian Alvarez Salas, Catherine Tanseco Calma, Eloise Lopez, Anela Duenas, Richelle Ramon, and Mathew Richardson.

File photo shows Project HOPE students engaging in hands-on learning at the Guma Sakman in Susupe. (Contributed Photo)

“I want to thank PSS principals and science teachers for working diligently alongside FOMT to ensure that students and parents can easily register for Project HOPE,” said project coordinator Joseph Villacrusis. “Anyone interested in registering can contact FOMT or find the appropriate information and forms on the FOMT website.”

Inspired by the desire to improve our sixth graders’ ACT Aspire test scores, Project HOPE uses experiential learning to increase students’ understanding of experimental results, inferences, evaluation of models and analyzing data. Our weekly ocean science learning sessions also combine traditional cultural methods and Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics principles to promote ocean conservation stewardship; local elders with a lifetime of ocean expertise participate in ocean science activities right along with CNMI sixth graders.

Weekly engagement sessions as well as the ocean camp are structured with appropriate social distancing protocols in place to protect all participants’ health as much as possible. Our COVID-19 protocols are based on guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., and PSS. These guidelines worked well in our fall session and we are confident that they will continue to serve the needs of our program, especially protecting all the individuals involved.

Because the global outbreak of COVID-19 prevented FOMT from initiating the program in spring 2020 as planned, the Project HOPE fall 2020 program was open to seventh grade students (school year 2019-20’s sixth graders) and our spring 2021 program is for sixth grade students.

You can obtain information from your school’s principal or contact Villacrusis at (670) 483 – FOMT (3668). For more information, you may also visit our website at friendsmarianatrench.org or email us at info@friendsmarianatrench.org. (PR)