Three individuals and one organization were this year\u2019s recipients of the prestigious Governor\u2019s Humanities Awards sponsored by the Office of the Governor and the Northern Marianas Humanities Council during a ceremony at the Fiesta Resort and Spa Friday night.<\/p>\n
The 2011 Governor\u2019s Humanities Awardees are Angelina Yobech as Outstanding Humanities Teacher, Dr. Jennifer McKinnon for the Preservation of CNMI History, the late Joaquin I. Norita for the Preservation of Traditional Cultural Practices, and the Northern Marianas Judiciary Historical Society for Research & Publication in the Humanities.<\/p>\n
Yobech, a classroom teacher at Hopwood Jr. High School, was chosen for her commitment to the Council\u2019s Motheread program. She is one of the first certified parent trainers and has spent over 232 weeks and over 464 hours working with 381 parents to teach them \u201chow to build dynamic learning environments in their own homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview after the ceremony, Yobech revealed how surprised and \u201cvery, very honored\u201d she felt to be given the award. \u201cIt\u2019s what I could do and I think that everybody has something that they could do and have time and talents that they could contribute and if we put all of that together, it makes a big impact in terms of humanities in our community,\u201d she told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
McKinnon, director of Studies of the Flinders University Department of Archaeology, served as \u201cthe driving force behind the World War II Maritime Heritage Trail,\u201d which chronicles the history of the Battle of Saipan through nine popular dive sites. The Trail \u201cprovides a unique dive experience that can be found only in the CNMI,\u201d and is an excellent example of a geotourism project for the islands.<\/p>\n
In a statement, McKinnon thanked all agencies, groups, and individuals that were involved in the project and dedicated it \u201cto those Chamorro, Carolinian, American, Japanese, Korean, and Filipino individuals who lost their lives and to those who did not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that through our efforts we may capture and interpret the importance of your participation in such an occasion of world history,\u201d she added. John Castro, former archaeological technician with the Historic Preservation Office, accepted the award on McKinnon\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n
Norita, who was born on Saipan but later moved to Rota, was given the award posthumously \u201cfor his celebration of traditional healing and local arts and music and for his commitment to the people and community of Rota.\u201d He passed away 10 years ago due to cancer.<\/p>\n
Juan I. Tenorio, Norita\u2019s brother who accepted the award on behalf of their family, said he is very pleased that his brother has been recognized for his many contributions to the island of Rota. <\/p>\n
The Northern Marianas Judiciary Historical Society, a non-profit corporation established in November 2003, was recognized for its publication of A Historical Overview, a book that details a history of the islands\u2019 legal structures and the evolution of the rule of law in the Commonwealth. Executive director Jim Stowell accepted the award.<\/p>\n
Council board chair Tracy M. Guerrero and press secretary Angel A. Demapan, who represented the governor at the ceremony, presented plaques to the awardees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is exceptionally gratifying for the awardees tonight is that the nominations have come from other members of the community who have recognized the value of your work in the humanities. Through your good deeds and inspiration, someone was so moved that they made the effort to put forth your nomination for statewide recognition,\u201d Demapan said in his remarks.<\/p>\n
Council executive director Scott Russell said all the winners deserved their awards. \u201cThere\u2019s more people out there, and that\u2019s the purpose of this yearly event, to recognize those people so they get public recognition for it. Hopefully, it will encourage other people to do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winners of the 8th Annual Sengebau Poetry Competition\u2014Lallane Guiao and Mikhail Alcantara\u2014delivered their winning pieces before being presented with their perpetual plaques at the event.<\/p>\n
The Council also recognized outgoing program officer Merced Aldan Ada, who will be leaving to pursue a doctorate in the U.S. mainland. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Three individuals and one organization were this year\u2019s recipients of the prestigious Governor\u2019s Humanities Awards sponsored by the Office of the Governor and the Northern Marianas Humanities Council during a ceremony at the Fiesta Resort and Spa Friday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}