WSR receives recognition

For retaining its high-standard quality of educational services affirmed by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, William S. Reyes Elementary School was presented by the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council a resolution hailing the school’s recent accomplishments.

WSR gained a six-year accreditation from WASC last June after undergoing careful evaluation from a team of visiting accreditation members.

WASC’s affirmation was the second stamp of approval obtained by the school after it had received a three-year accreditation status from the same accrediting institution on Spring of 1997.

Municipal Council Chair Gregorio Deleon Guerrero and Vice Chair David Indalecio especially commended WSR students, parents, teachers, support personnel and school principal Paz C. Younis for their active role in the attainment of the re-accreditation credits.

According to the accrediting commission visiting committee reports for Spring 2000, key issues that WSR needs to address include the organization for student learning, curriculum and instruction, support for student personal and academic growth, and resource management and development.

The WASC report has proposed that the school should plan for its continuing improvement by including pertinent data collection, filing, and organization in the responsibilities of the administrator.

WASC members also suggested that WSR, a 725-student campus, should have its own nurse to provide health services to students and should continue to involve parents in school related issues and in shared decision making.

Accreditation committee members also believe that it would benefit the school to have a full-time personal and guidance counselor and a librarian in order to implement the benchmark and standards and the schoolwide action plan.

Communication between WSR and the Public School System Central office regarding the allocation for more funds to carry on educational school programs should also be improved, according to WASC.

Meanwhile, the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council also bestowed recognition on Dr. Cecilia Lizama-Salvatore, the first Chamorro woman to obtain a doctorate degree in Philosophy.

Dr. Salvatore was issued a resolution for having completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree last May 2000 from the University of Texas where she has conducted numerous researches studying a wide range of subjects from Micronesian cultures to web-based learning.

Her doctoral dissertation reflected on the role of library in the “information seeking behavior” of the people of the CNMI and Guam, using her own life experiences and ancestry as references.

This study gave birth to a model or theoretical paradigm useful in analyzing similar behaviors in other communities not adequately served by libraries and “formal information agencies.”

Her accomplishment spawned opportunities for academic reviews that inspired her to author publications entitled: “Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?” and “Review of the History of the Northern Mariana Islands,” among others.

Her latest works include the “Indigenous Knowledge and the Role of the Libraries”, “Cultural Modes and Distance and Web-based learning”, to name a few. (MM)