Summer Break an Opportunity for STEM Development in Chuuk

A team of students and educators from Pohnpei broke from summer relaxation to share their enthusiasm for high school robotics with peers in Chuuk.

Three students and two educators from Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School (OLMCHS) travelled to Chuuk to lead a four-day robotics workshop. Over the course of the training, students from public and private high schools across Chuuk partnered with the Pohnpei team to build, operate and compete their very own robots. For Weipat High School, located in Chuuk’s Northwest Islands, this represented the school’s first hands-on interaction with the new technology.

The building workshop was sponsored by Habele, a US non-profit that designed and implemented a robotics league extending across all four states of the FSM. OLMCHS was one of the first schools in Pohnpei to join in the Robo League in 2018, and has hosted annual Robo Day competitions, in which participating high schools gather to compete for the title of Pohnpei Robo Day Champions. Chuuk Department of Education generously made the Chuuk High School gymnasium available for the week, as well as providing food and encouragement for all the participants.

Teams of all experience levels at the training began with an unassembled robotics kit, and with the help of the team from Pohnpei, worked through each of the parts and their functions. Surrounded by piles of metal and electronic components, each school team tweaked and troubleshot their way to a functioning robot. While beginning students have clear instructions to follow, experimenting and exploring with the equipment is encouraged.

“Creative problem solving is key here,” said Matt Coleman, Habele’s Director of Operations. “Students learn to analyze a challenge, and use the parts they have on hand to resolve it. It is an important skill to develop for any vocation.”

After completing their first robotics build, teams worked on controlling the robots through a variety of simple tasks. As the workshop progressed, challenges became more complex. The culmination of the training was a series of competitive events to test robotics dexterity and function for points. Prior to the final competition, students were encouraged by Dr. Margarita Cholymay, Director of Chuuk Department of Education, who praised them for learning new skills, and urged them to take advantage of the educational opportunities provided. The team from Saruman Chuuk Academy won first place in the competition, with Xavier High School coming in second, and Weipat High School taking third. All teams demonstrated tremendous growth over the course of the training. Students will return to their schools with a working robot, and enthusiasm to share what they learned with their peers.

“Peer to peer training encourages active participation and engagement among learners,” said Russell Figueras, Principal of OLMCHS, and one of the trainers for the workshop. “When students are involved in teaching their peers, they become more invested in the learning process and more likely to grasp and retain the information. This was an awesome learning experience for our students.”

The training workshop is the last Habele-sponsored robotics event in Chuuk. The US nonprofit is sunsetting its involvement in high school robotics across the FSM after over a decade, but hopes robotics education evolves further through support from FSM national and state governments.

Habele will continue to offer tuition scholarships to students attending private elementary and high schools in the FSM, donations to schools and libraries, direct monthly book deliveries to children under the age of five (“Young Island Readers”), and donations of tools to traditional carvers and weavers.

PICS High School Robotics Team visits Governor Oliver ahead of trip to Geneva, Switzerland for the First Global Robotics Challenge

Press release from Pohnpei State Public Information Office. October 7, 2022

Governor Oliver welcomed the PICS High School Robotics team to the Governor’s Office on the morning of October 7, 2022.

The PICS High School Robotics team will be participating in the First Global Robotics Challenge in Geneva, Switzerland representing the Federated States of Micronesia.

 Governor Oliver congratulated each student for their hard work and dedication and expressed his pride in their accomplishments, especially in the field of robotics. He thanked the advisor/teacher Mrs. Tekaeto Diopolous for her guidance and hard work with the students. Governor Oliver wished the students all the best, expressing his gratitude and pride for the team, as they will not only represent their families and their school, but also the State of Pohnpei and the Federated States of Micronesia abroad.  He encouraged the students to continue with their interest in Robotics, and look towards finding solutions through robotics for the challenges we face in our islands. 

The PICS High School team is compromised of Advisor Mrs. Tekaeto Diopolous, Education Specialist Darla Ladore, Chennelle Cantero, Eberhard Salons, J.C. Curley, Einstein Halbert, and Norman Pedrus.

The First Global Challenge is a yearly Olympics-style competition in Robotics, that was created to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. 

 The 2022 First Global Challenge will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from October 13 – 16, 2022.  Over 180 countries will attend in the spirit of global purpose, unity, and collaboration, for the first time since 2019, because of the global pandemic.  

 https://pohnpeistate.gov.fm/2022/10/07/pics-high-school-robotics-team-visits-governor-oliver-ahead-of-trip-to-geneva-switzerland-for-the-first-global-robotics-challenge/

Habele Announces 54 Tuition Scholarships for 2022-23

US nonprofit continues to expand access to Micronesia’s highest performing private elementary and high schools.

(Colonia, Yap) Fifty-four promising students across Micronesia have been awarded tuition scholarships to attend the nation’s top-performing private elementary and high schools across three Micronesian states.

The K12 tuition scholarships are provided by Habele, a US nonprofit serving students and schools across the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Established by former Peace Corps Volunteers who lived and taught in the Islands, Habele has been granting tuition assistance to Micronesian students since 2006.

“These investments in individual students highlight the deep personal connections between the United States and our allies in the Freely Associated States,” observed US Congresswoman Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa. “Though our governments are united by formal alliances and treaties, it is the personal ties of our peoples, over decades of shared history, that make the relationships truly vibrant. My family lived in Micronesia for almost 17 years, both on Majuro and Saipan and I also lived on Guam while attending the University of Guam, while I have nieces and nephews with Marshallese and Chamorro heritage through marriages of my brothers. As a former Peace Corps employee in the Pacific, “I’m also pleased to see the scholarships were established by former Peace Corps volunteers”

The Compact of Free Association (COFA) allows Micronesian students to come to the United States for college, where they are eligible for generous federal grants that pay for their higher education. However, many young people in Micronesia -particularly from lower income families- aren’t able to take advantage of these opportunities because, they don’t complete high school prepared to succeed in American higher education. Habele’s K12 tuition scholarships help place such students at high achieving, independent schools, and on a path towards ultimately obtaining a college degree.

Habele Scholars come from villages across the hundreds of islands and atolls that comprise the Federated States of Micronesia. Students from Yap, Chuuk, and Pohnpei, as well as their lagoon and outer islands, will be attending eleven different schools in 2022-23, including Xavier High School, Saint Mary’s, Faith Christian Academy, and SDA Schools in Yap, Chuuk and Pohnpei.

The K12 scholarships are entirely funded by donations from individual Americans who support Habele. Most are themselves former Peace Corps Volunteers, civil servants, tourists or contractors who spent time in Micronesia.

This is the seventeenth year Habele has awarded merit and needs-based scholarships, which average between 50 and 75 percent of the total tuition families owe. The nongovernmental organization also provides book donations, support for traditional skills mentorships, and organizes high school-based robotics clubs. Habele remains the only US nonprofit exclusively focused on serving students and schools within the Federated States.

Among the 54 scholarships awarded are several Memorial Scholarships. These honor the legacy of specific individuals whose life or work “embodied the best of the longstanding US-Micronesian partnership.” Introduced this year, the Martin Yinug Memorial Scholarship, honors the late Chief Justice of the Micronesian Supreme Court, and his outspoken commitment to public service, rule of law and judiciary independence. Another, the Marshall Wees Memorial Scholarship, honors a US Navy doctor who battled an outbreak of yaws that was ravaging the native population of Federai Island during the War in the Pacific.

“Being one of the Habele Scholarship recipients for the past two years is a tremendous honor and a joy,” said Sheridan Giltamag. A rising junior at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School, Miss Giltamag earned a 3.9 grade point average over the course of last school year. She and her family have also been involved in WeavingConnections, a Habele program to support mentor-based preservation of traditional weaving skills.

“The scholarship indeed helps my parents with tuition obligations at OLMCHS in Pohnpei. In addition to the financial support, Habele Scholarship has motivated and helped me in many ways, which include keeping up with my grades, spending more time with my school work, and the importance of education and my future.”

New Scholarship Honors Late Micronesian Chief Justice

Habele, a US nonprofit established by former US Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Micronesia, has established a new tuition scholarship honoring the late FSM Supreme Court Justice Martin G. Yinug of Yap.

Since 2016, Habele’s K12 tuition scholarships have helped students across the FSM attend independent elementary and high schools by offsetting a large portion of the out-of-pocket fees and tuition needed to enroll. Several of the Habele scholarships are named to honor the legacy of specific individuals who either embodied the US-FSM partnership, and or played a significant and positive role in the development of the Federated States.

The newly announced Martin Yinug Memorial Scholarship aims to celebrate and perpetuate the legacy of the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Honorable Martin G. Yinug.

Chief Justice Yinug was born on October 18, 1949 in Guror Village, Gilman Municipality on the Island of Yap. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at the San Francisco State University in 1972 and his Juris Doctor in 1980 from the Catholic University of America Law School.

His four decades of public service included working as an Administrative Assistant for the Yap Delegation to the Congress of Micronesia, as an interpreter to the State’s delegation to the Micronesian Constitutional Convention, leading the Micronesian Legal Services Corporation in Yap, as legal counsel for the Yap State Legislature, and serving as an Associate Justice on the Yap State Supreme Court.

In 1992 Martin Yinug was appointed and confirmed to lead the FSM Supreme Court as it’s Chief Justice, a role which he held until his death on August 31, 2014. In September of 2013, Chief Justice Yinug had been elected by the members of the Pacific Judicial Council (PJC) to serve as the President of this regional judicial organization.

Justice Yinug was widely praised for his selfless commitment to the public good. FSM Vice President Alik L. Alik described him as “a humble man of high principles, of few but eloquent words, and of impeccable integrity and high morality.” Vice Speaker of the Micronesian Congress, Paliknoa K. Welly, pointed to Yinug as “an excellent role model—a high achiever with a colorful career history and education who showed many that ‘it can be done.'” Beauleen Carl-Worswick, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia, observed that Martin Yinug was “a dedicated public servant and leader who championed the Rule of Law.”

The Martin Yinug Memorial Scholarship was made possible through the support of Roger Gale, an American with a long personal commitment to the People of Micronesia, and a former professor of Yinug’s.

Yapese students attending or enrolling at an independent high school on Yap are encouraged to apply for the Yinug Memorial Scholarship. The scholarships award provides approximately seventy-five percent of the student’s tuition each school year.

Any Micronesian student looking for financial assistance to attend a private elementary or high school within the FSM is encouraged to visit habele.org/scholarships to learn more about the nonprofit’s scholarship offerings.

 

Pohnpei Robo Day 2022!

Teams of students from public and private schools across Pohnpei gathered in the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School gymnasium to showcase their robotics achievements for “Robo Day 2022.” This annual gathering offers high school robotics clubs an opportunity to close out the school year by matching skills with peers in a friendly competition open to the public. 

For the island of Pohnpei, located  in the Federated States of Micronesia, Habele’s Pohnpei Robo League represents the premiere Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) opportunity for high school students. The Pohnpei Robo League encourages hands on experimentation with complex technology, problem solving, and teamwork, even for students who might not see themselves as “math and science” enthusiasts. Since its inception in 2018, the League has emphasized a student-driven learning process, with participants encouraged to explore and experiment with their equipment.

In the 2022 competition, students built robots to move through a set field of play, picking up objects with differing point values and depositing them in “scoring zones,” as well as maneuvering through an obstacle course. 

The winners for this year’s Robo Day are:

1st – Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School

2nd – Pohnpei Catholic High School

3rd – Pohnpei Island Central High School

4th – Calvary Christian Academy

5th – Pohnpei Seventh Day Adventist School

6th – Nanpei Memorial High School

While Robo Day draws the most public awareness to the Robo League, it represents the culmination of a year of opportunities for participating schools. Pohnpei high schools have seen integration of 3D Printing, robotics certification courses, as well as buildouts of wireless networks for distance learning during the pandemic. 

Habele, a US nonprofit enables and equips high schools in the Robo League across all four of the Federated States of Micronesia. Habele was founded by former Peace Corps volunteers who taught in Micronesia. The nonprofit first introduced robotics to Micronesia in 2011.

Support from the US Government comes through the Office of Insular Affair, which provides technical assistance funding for development projects in Micronesia.The US-FSM relationship is historically, strategically, and politically unique. Shared goals of regional openness and sustainable development are based on decades of common history and partnership.

Habele’s Robo League is building the knowledge and skills of future island leaders. These leaders will tackle complex multi-faceted challenges. At the same time, Habele is deepening the US-FSM partnership, ensuring those challenges can be faced as a team.

building the knowledge and skills of future island leaders. These leaders will tackle complex multi-faceted challenges. At the same time, Habele is deepening the US-FSM partnership, ensuring those challenges can be faced as a team.

Tuition scholarships highlight American-Micronesian ties

Individual Americans have pooled private donations to help promising students in Micronesia attend the island nation’s top performing independent schools.

Habele, a US nonprofit established by former Peace Corps Volunteers, has awarded merit and needs-based tuition scholarships since 2006. It is the only US nonprofit exclusively focused on serving students and schools within the Federated States.

Thirty-seven complete, on-time applications from across Micronesia were received ahead of the June 30th annual submission deadline. Based on the money raised from individual donors Habele was able to award twenty-five tuition scholarships to students attending eight different elementary and high schools in three FSM states.

Checks for the scholarships have been mailed to the schools, and families will be also be notified by mail.

“We are tremendously proud of the scholarship recipients, and take great satisfaction to report that scholars’ grades in 2020-21 were some of the highest since we started the program in 2006,” explained Habele founder Neil Mellen. “There were also four 2020-21 scholars who completed their secondary studies this spring. Those students were Cassandra Hagiltaw at Pohnpei Catholic, Crystal Ruerngun Loochaz and Shereeca Pairui at Yap SDA, and Maselyann “MC” Suemog Yangr at Yap Catholic High School.”

In the spring, Maselyann, a Habele scholar since 2016, wrote to Habele about the importance of the program. “I am grateful for your help in achieving my goals. You have helped me to stay in school, and now I am only two months away from graduating high school. I am very thankful to have gotten the chance to make it this far with a great education and a school community that has become my second family and home.”

Maselyann graduated YCHS with nearly all “A’s” on her final report card and is now headed to the University of Guam, where she will pursue a degree in chemistry.

Among the twenty-five scholarships awarded are three Memorial Scholarships. These are a special type of Habele K12 tuition grant. They honor the legacy of Americans whose life or work demonstrated exceptional commitment to the people of Micronesia, and embodied the best of the longstanding US-Micronesian partnership. These include the Lee Huddleston, Dr. Marshall Wees, and Leona Peterson Memorial Scholarships.

“I saw first-hand the amazing results of Habele’s efforts throughout Micronesia, reaching students at the grassroots level, even on the most remote of the outer islands,” observed Ambassador Robert A. Riley, formerly the US Ambassador to Micronesia and now a Director at the East-West Center, a think tank in Hawaii. “Habele fulfills a unique and critical role in FSM’s development.”

“The name “HABELE” is a wish come true for our children,” explained Lazarus Ulith in a note sent in with a student’s report card last month. He observed the nonprofit’s name is itself a play on words meaning both the future tense of “to be” and more figuratively “to achieve an ambition.” “You make it a reality which is why you make a difference in their future” said Ulith.

Those interested in learning more can apply, or support the program online at www.habele.org
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Habele fundraising t-shirts now for sale!

In 2006 a group of former Peace Corps Volunteers established a US-based nonprofit to advance educational opportunity and access across Micronesia.

Since that time Habele has provided book donations, awarded tuition scholarships, supported cultural mentors and created a Micronesia wide high school robotics league.

For a decade and a half, Habele’s unique and distinctive t-shirts have been sent to, and worn by, students, teachers and volunteers throughout Micronesia. They raise awareness and celebrate the work of our partners. They showcase designs, patterns and forms distinctive to the Federated States.

Now select Habele shirts can be purchased online with all proceeds benefiting the work of Habele!

Pohnpei Science Fair Highlights Robotics Learning

In May, students from high schools and elementary schools across Pohnpei gathered for the 2021 Science Fair at Pohnpei Island Central School (PICS). The PICS booth showcased the achievements of the school’s Robo Club, including a full scale competition game board for visitors to try their hand at directing robots through various challenges.

In addition to opportunities for hands-on interaction with robotics, PICS displayed their state-of-the-art 3D printer, one of the few to be found in the islands. The printer will be used to fabricate custom parts for robotics builds and competitions, while growing student knowledge of a rapidly evolving technology. PICS was one of four high schools across the Federated States of Micronesia to be awarded a 3D printer, after having robotics instructors and students successfully complete a virtual robotics certification course.

PICS has been a member of the Habele Robo League since 2018, and is one of 23 participating high schools across the FSM.

 

Soldiers, Students team to Donate Books to Micronesia

Books headed to students in Kosrae, Island of the Sleeping Lady

A group of off-duty US Army soldiers in Hawaii have teamed up with a public school on Oahu, students in the school’s Junior Naval ROTC unit, and a nonprofit founded by former Peace Corps Volunteers to send books to a school-based library in Kosrae.

Diverse in culture and language, the far-flung picturesque islands of Micronesia are strategically situated. The Federated States of Micronesia are the geopolitical crossroads of the Pacific. The islands’ dramatic role in centuries of global politics obscures persistent challenges of isolation, dispersion, and limited resources.

Once part of a US administered Trust Territory, today Micronesia’s far-reaching alliance with the US is cemented through a Compact of Free Association, or COFA, that defines defense and development ties between the nations.

The eastern most state of the Federated States of Micronesia, Kosrae, is home to fewer than seven thousand islanders, living on forty square miles of land, with an average household income of just $15,000. The isolated island is more than three hundred miles from neighboring Pohnpei, home to the national capital. From offshore, the distinctive shape of the Kosrae, densely covered with vegetation atop steep mountains, resembles the female form, earning the nickname “the sleeping lady.”

Schools across Micronesia need books for their school-based libraries, which serve both students and members of the community at large. Staff at James Campbell High School and a group of Army Reservists resolved to help, enlisting the support of students at the high school’s Navy JROTC detachment.

“We were thrilled to collaborate with Campbell High School and Habele to get used library books to deserving people in the COFA States,” explained John Yoshimori of Aiea. “In my opinion we are providing reading opportunities to students in the American Affiliated Pacific and hopefully showing the general public that soldiers are human beings capable of planning and executing humanitarian activities also as well as combat operations!”

Over the last six months more than seventy boxes of books, totaling over two thousand pounds, have been gathered by these and other Habele volunteers for public schools across Micronesia. The nonprofit receives requests from Micronesian schools in Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae, then matches them with offers from American schools and individuals looking to donate.

“Child development is the foundation for community and economic development” explained Neil Mellen of Habele, a US nonprofit established by former Peace Corps Volunteers that works with students across Micronesia. “All facets of human capital are formed by abilities developed early in life and we always have more book requests from our partner schools than we can meet.”

Habele in 90 Seconds

Habele serves students and schools across Micronesia.
A nonprofit created by former Peace Corps Volunteers, Habele supports island students by:

Scholarships. Habele awards needs-based scholarships to students at Micronesia’s top rated private elementary and high schools.

Books. Habele donates books to school libraries across the Federated States, and mails books directly to children before they enter Kindergarten.

Robotics. Habele equips, trains and organizes robotics teams at high schools in all four Micronesian states.

Traditional Skills. Habele provides carvers, weavers and other traditional craftsmen with specialty tools, supporting these mentors as they preserve cultural skills.

Habele is a network of Americans and Micronesians who share the belief that each island child –no matter how isolated– deserves the chance to reach their full potential. These locally-driven programs prepare Micronesian children to thrive in their villages and beyond the reef.

If you believe in the potential of children in the remote islands of the western Pacific, join us!