Fanapi Foundation

Empowering the outer islanders from Micronesia at home and abroad

Fanapi College Preparatory

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The Chuuk State  School System (CSSS), formerly known as the Department of Education for the State of Chuuk made a decision two years ago to turn the 2-year junior high schools in the outer islands into 4-year high schools without additional resources. While the decision was understandably based on the lack of  qualified teachers in the entire State, it has become a major equity issue for the outer island students. The decision now means that fanapi students are kept out on the fringes of academic and social opportunities found in the high schools on Weno. Yet they are expected to be college-ready by the end of their elementary and secondary education out in the outer islands.

The Fanapi College Preparatory (FCP) is a yearlong charter school for the most academically advanced students from the outer island high schools (Pattiw, Weipat, Pafeng) to prepare them for the academic and social demands of college life. Located on Weno, FCP will enable fanapi graduates who have a strong aptitude for college success to take college-level courses while being provided with academic support services and other hands-on workshops that prepare them for college.

The FCP academy will start with month-long Summer Bridge Program on the Xavier High School campus in collaboration with the Jesuits of Micronesia, Jesuit Volunteers International, the Mercy Sisters, University of Guam, and University of Hawaii-Hilo. Participants will live on campus and undergo a rigorous academic program using the Xavier High School curriculum taught by a team of volunteer faculty with bachelors degrees or masters degree. In addition to rigorous coursework and academic support services, the FCP summer and yearlong academy will include a series of workshops including but not limited to:

  •  College Success
  • How to Choose the Right College for You
  • How to Get a Job in College.
  • How to Successfully Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
  • Managing Peer Pressure in College
  • Managing Your Budget
  • How to Write College-level Research Papers
  • Understanding the Legal System in the United States
  • How NOT to become Homeless, etc.

Educational Services

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An educated citizenry is the key to breaking the cycle of disempowerment among the people in the Northwest region in Chuuk. No single issue deserves top priority in the outer islands today than the ensuring of adequate education for our children. It is imperative that our young generations of outer islanders are given all the available resources to survive in a globalized and fast-changing world. Without adequate education, the future of our State and its place in the global community will further decline into hopelessness.

Programs

  • Support the Northwest Educational Service Center by providing help in the areas of curriculum development, funding allocation, staffing, leadership development, and strategic development. The Foundation will use its resources to ensure the State’s educational reform plan for the Northwest region is successful.
  • Start a year-long Fanapi College Preparatory charter school on Weno to prepare academically ready high school graduates from the outer islands to participate in academic, social, and leadership training at Xavier High School and College of Micronesia.
  • Fund scholarships for teachers to get their certification and credentials and return to teach in the outer island schools.
  • In FSD schools that lack qualified teachers, recruit American college graduates to come out and volunteer in our schools until we have enough local teachers to take over our own schools.
  • Engage the sons and daughters of the Northwest living overseas for their help in program development, curriculum implementation, funding sources, and other needs of the children.
  • Instill an innovative community-based public school system that engages the goodwill of the island community, church groups, youth groups, clan system, and all aspect of the community.
  • Build key partnerships with international organizations such as Guam-based Cuthbert Project, One Laptop Per Child (www.one.laptop.org/), Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org) and humanitarian organizations to help with all aspect of the school system especially in technological advancement of the schools with regards to computer technology, textbooks, libraries, scholarships, and school needs.
  • Utilize the key strategies in the Chuuk Reform Plan – Vision 2020 to improve education in the outer islands.
  • Have a systematic and transparent approach to awarding scholarships for highly qualified and needy students from the Northwest region to attend high schools on Weno and college.
  • Partner with College of Micronesia, University of Hawaii, University of Guam and other institutions of higher learning for teacher training and certification programs for teachers and administrators from the Northwest.

Global Partnerships

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Bridging Local Needs with Global Resources!

Since the Compact of Free Association went into effect, there has been a steady exodus of outer islanders in search of better life for themselves and their families. Many of our outer islanders living overseas in Guam, Hawaii, and the mainland have established their own base of resources. We need to organize each of these associations of outer islanders into a strong body to help the islands in terms of educational resources, financial remittances, economic development opportunities, medical care, and other social programs.

Programs:

  • Create a safe and efficient electronic way for outer islanders living overseas to send money back to their relatives in the islands.
  • Establish partnerships with businesses on Weno whereby outer islanders overseas can electronically pay for goods and services to be picked up by designated relatives on Weno.
  • Establish a way for outer islanders living and working overseas to return to the outer islands to volunteer as teachers in the respective schools.
  • Seek global partnerships with corporations and humanitarian organizations to fund programs or send volunteers to provide direct services.

Youth Empowerment

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Energizing the Young Generation for Civic Engagement! 
The youth have been the backbone of our community activities in the outer islands. Ironically, they have also been the least resourced. Their voices are not readily heard because of the cultural misconception that youth means inexperience rather than energy; that youth (hemirit) means lack of wisdom when in fact they bear creativity; that youth are undisciplined when in fact they are hungry for knowledge; that youth lack unnecessary challenge the status quo when in fact they are simply asking to do more for the betterment of their island community, family, church groups, and organizations. It is vitally important that the government and the island leadership strengthen its youth services to empower the young people to do more to help the island communities. In an increasingly changing island culture, the adults have to learn the necessary skills to manage the complex needs of the youth. Adults have the responsibility to set positive role modeling for our youth in areas of hard work, respect of others, dedication to taking care of each other and of being ambassadors for our beloved outer islands.

Programs:

  • Improve the formal education of the youth by improving elementary and secondary schools in the outer islands.
  • Create job training opportunities for the outer island youth to succeed in future jobs in Chuuk or overseas.
  • Build or establish a Fanapi Youth Center on Weno which provides opportunities in sports, jobs, businesses, fundraising, college advising, job training, etc.
  • Establish a Northwest Region Youth Commission comprising of youth leaders from all the church groups in Pafeng, Pattiw, Namonweito which will serve as the advocacy body for all youth affairs.
  • Create a Youth Fund controlled by the Youth Commission which encourages creative community service projects.
  • Establish a Fanapi Cultural Performance Group comprising of a select group of dancers, song writers, performers who would represent the traditional and contemporary performance arts from the outer islands at State, National, and International conferences.
  • Seek international funds for an Outer Islands Scholarship to enable merit and need-based financial aid for outer island students to attend private schools on Weno and college.
  • Establish a College Advising Office with volunteers from US colleges to help guide outer island high school students through the process of planning, selecting, applying, preparing, and succeeding in a college education.
  • Establish an Internet Café on Weno to be used by college and high school students from the outer islands attending schools on Weno.
  • Establish opportunities for the outer island youth to know the pros and cons of a career in the U.S. military service. For those interested, establish tutoring programs to better their chances of passing the entrance exam.

Message from Founder

Dear Friends: On behalf of Fanapi Foundation's all-volunteer Advisory Board , our partners and sponsors, I want to welcome you to our website.   Thank you for your interest in knowing more about our mission and programs. The Fanapi Foundation was founded in 2013 to provide technical assistance to the people from the geographically remote … continue

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