Statement of Need: A major challenge of the Northwest Unified Schools is the lack of access to regular professional development programs to address the unique educational needs of these impoverished schools. The school principals are expected to develop and maintain effective training programs for their teachers within the CSSS year-round school calendar. Yet, most of the principals themselves have not been adequately trained as trainers. They are themselves products of this cycle of untrained administrators. Consequently, teachers from these remote schools have had no reliable professional development programs during the year; they depend on the summer months to travel hundreds of miles to the main island of Weno to access training programs developed by the CSSS and the College of Micronesia – Chuuk Campus. The Northwest Educators Summer Training (NEST) program is the only viable way to begin to break the cycle of subpar public education in the Northwest Unified Schools.
Project Objectives: NEST must be held on the central island of Weno, which has the resources and facilities for training purposes. It must be residential as most of the teachers have inadequate living situations on Weno. It must be held at Xavier High School, which is arguably the best college preparatory in the countries of Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands to enable them to experience what it takes to lead and maintain a successful school. It must bring together all the teachers and principals in the Northwest Unified Schools for a common experience. It must be must be led by well-trained professionals who understand the uniqueness of the cultural and educational reform issues in Chuuk State. NEST as with educational reform must be rooted within the historical context, reality, and support of key community leadership from throughout the Northwest region. And finally this NEST must be built upon the foundation of the leadership summit held a year ago on the Onoun Island.
Funding Needs: Funding is needed to enable the NEST to be held at Xavier High School during the week of July 29 – August 2, 2013 and facilitated by the experienced team of educators including Fr. Arthur Leger, SJ, Ph.D., Margaret Cholymay, Ed.D., and Vidalino Raatior, MA. The participants will participate in roundtable discussions, hands-on workshops, leadership development exercises, and engage each other in collaborative strategic planning. It is vital that the participants reside on the Xavier campus for the duration of the five-day conference to maximize collaboration and build community among the participants who normally have no access to each other as they are separated by the ocean. Additionally, the participants will have a daily experiential education in the Xavier High School culture of educating the whole person.
