Habele Scholarships: Report Cards Show Achievement, Hard Work

Each year, former Peace Corps Volunteers and other Americans with a personal connection Micronesia donate to help Habele award tuition scholarships to ambitious students in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

Since 2006, Habele’s K12 scholarships have ensured that bright, hardworking students have access to the best education possible. Based on need and merit, these scholarships largely serve remote outer island, rural village, and female students though all students across Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae may apply.

A handful of independent schools scattered across Micronesia have consistently demonstrated graduation rates, test scores, and college entrance rates far beyond those in the government schools. Situated in the district capitals of Micronesia, these faith-based, nonprofit schools depend on modest tuition fees to operate.

Even with discounts, many of the lowest income Micronesian families cannot afford the modest costs of school such as Xaiver High School, Yap SDA School, Faith Christian Academy, or Our Lady of Mercy. Habele scholarships, which range on a cases-by-case basis from 50 to 75 percent of tuition owed, extend access to the most financially challenged students.

Twenty-six students were awarded scholarships for the 2021-22 school year, attending eight different elementary and high schools across three of the Micronesian states. The average scholarship for the year was $615.00.

Families and scholars commit to provide report cards over the course of the year, and those first quarter grades are now coming into Habele.

Case-in-point are LJ and Tyrah, a pair of cousins from the very sparsely populated Island of Asor on the Atoll of Ulithi. Ulithi, famous for its role as a secretive naval base and staging area during the War in the Pacific, is one of the Outer Islands of Yap State.The two young women are attending Yap International Christian (YIC) for intermediate school. For both it is the first time living and going to school beyond the shores of their tiny island home.

Despite the challenges of adjustment -Yap Proper has a population near 5,000, or nearly a hundred times that of Asor- both are doing well, and each earned a place on the YIC honor roll for the first quarter.

We are just so proud of them,” explained Modesta Yangmog, the girls sponsor on Yap, who also leads the Asor Womens Association (AWA). “We took them out for dinner last night in reward and recognizing their achievements. I’m proud of their hard work, and they know it’s a long hard road ahead, but it helps so much knowing they can focus on their studies, and we can focus on supporting that, knowing Habele can help with the tuition.”

Habele’s founder, a former Peace Corps Volunteer who taught in the public schools of the Outer Islands of Yap, echoed Yangmog’s praise for the students. “The modest financial investments Habele’s donors and volunteers are making through K12 tuition scholarship are just that: modest. They pale in comparison to tremendous investment these students are making in themselves, their futures, and the long-term success and vibrancy of their islands,” explained Neil Mellen, of Habele. “Helping place these and other hardworking students and ambitious future leaders into the best possible classroom is the easy part.”

Lee Huddleston Scholarship Established for Micronesian Students

 

Each year, in the first week of June, Habele announces the award of its K-12 tuition scholarships. These small grants help ambitious students across Micronesia attend independent primary and elementary schools, paying a large portion of their tuition and fees.

This year, one deserving student from Chuuk State will receive a special, named, scholarship: the Lee Huddleston Memorial Scholarship.

Lee Joseph Huddleston of Eugene, Oregon lost his life in February of 2020 while rescuing a group of children caught in a riptide while swimming off Moch island, in the Federated States of Micronesia.

Lee’s first experience in working with people of nations other than his own was in the years 2012-2013 as a volunteer in Peru, where he worked with at-risk youth at the Instituto Mundo Libre in Lima. He then served the people of Chuuk state as a Peace Corps Volunteer on the Island of Moch from 2014 to 2016.

Lee’s adventuresome spirit took him to Kazakhstan in 2018 where he worked for Yessenov University as a teacher trainer. Following that position he returned to work for the Chuuk State Department of Education as Instructional Support Coordinator for the mid-Mortlocks.

He was a graduate of Willamette High School in Eugene and from the University of Oregon where he obtained baccalaureate degrees in International Studies and Spanish as well as a Masters Degree in Language Teaching Studies.

The Lee Joseph Huddleston Memorial Scholarship provides tuition assistance to a student from the Outer Islands of Chuuk attending either elementary or high school anywhere within the FSM. Preference is given to deserving applicants from the Mortlock Islands.

As with all Habele scholarships, the Lee Huddleston Memorial Scholarship will help ensure bright, hardworking students have access to the best education possible. Based on need and merit, these scholarships focus on remote outer island, rural village, and female students.

Each Habele tuition grant is set at a level that maintains family ownership in student achievement while lightening the financial burden. Often scholarships cover between fifty and seventy-five percent of tuition and fees. Students must maintain and report high levels of academic achievement every term, applying each year for continued support. Details are online at habele.org/scholarships.

Memorial Scholarships 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.

Established by former Peace Corps Volunteers, Habele is a 501(3) nonprofit supporting Micronesian students.