{"id":339748,"date":"2021-03-08T06:02:13","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T20:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=339748"},"modified":"2021-03-08T06:02:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T20:02:13","slug":"a-volunteer-teacher-and-a-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/a-volunteer-teacher-and-a-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"A volunteer, teacher, and a leader"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Leila Haveia Fleming Clark Staffler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As one of the newest addition to the 22nd CNMI Legislature representing Precinct 5, Rep. Leila Haveia Fleming Clark Staffler (D-Saipan) operates with the goal \u201cto do the most good and leave our place better than we found it.\u201d <\/p>\n

That means her heart has always bent toward service to the community and that got started when she was fresh out of Willamette College Oregon in 2001, when she accepted a job as an art and English teacher at the Tinian Jr. Sr. High School, her alma mater, from 2001 to 2007. She then moved to Saipan and worked as an English teacher at Kagman High School until 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really loved teaching because I truly felt like I could change someone\u2019s life through education. I took a leap and became the KHS vice principal in 2010 when I had just been voted as the KHS Teacher of the Year that year. I felt that if I could do so much for the 120 students in my classes, imagine what I could do for the whole school!,\u201d she said. \u201cI took on the responsibilities of instructional coach, teacher mentor, PRAXIS support, AP program director, disciplinarian, super substitute, problem solver, facilities manager, and the list goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2013, Staffler became the KHS principal, where she took on the added roles of instructional leader, event planner, transition process coordinator, Student Council adviser, disabilities advocate, principal representative, program innovator, and so much more.<\/p>\n

After almost 13 years in public education serving the KHS and Kagman communities, Staffler thought about scaling up her service that will affect more lives in the community. \u201cMy goals have always been to give back to my community. As a recipient of the 7-32 full scholarship, that was always an expectation that was drilled into me since high school. The way I have given back to my community has changed over the years, depending on my ability to give,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a young person, I volunteered time and energy to help my community and the environment. As I have gotten older, I began to be the one coordinating volunteer activities for youth. I learned through my experiences and research how important it is to build connections in our community through volunteer work and for several years, I worked to embed the value of volunteerism into the culture of graduating seniors at CNMI public high schools. Today, as an elected public servant, my goals still rooted in giving back to my community through volunteerism and access.\u201d<\/p>\n

As chairperson of the Committee on Education and Workforce in the CNMI House of Representatives, Staffler said she is \u201csuper motivated.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI am motivated by the call of our people and community to make a difference for the future of our Marianas. I am motivated because I truly feel like the CNMI could be a model of progress and efficiency through interagency collaboration and long-term planning,\u201d she said. \u201cI am still far from accomplishing some personal goals but I know I will get there one day and I am where I need to be for now. My formula for success would be to always be your best, don\u2019t procrastinate and always read the directions\u2014a shout out to my former students! (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first six months of 2021, Staffler plans to establish routines, conduct outreach and gather feedback and input for all things coming through the pipeline at work. According to her, these foundations support the Democratic values of accountability and transparency. This will be further reflected in the 22nd Legislature\u2019s rules and operating procedures. <\/p>\n

Staffler believes that restoring public trust in government can be achieved through transparency, accountability and open communication. Also, she is guided by the twin principles of \u201cdoing the most good,\u201d which was coined by Evangeline Booth, the humanitarian leader of the Salvation Army in the 1930s; and \u201cLeave this place better than you found it\u201d\u2014the guiding principle shared with her cohort of the Pacific Century Fellows, as stated by former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese principles highlight volunteerism and public service in a way that I try to live and hope to impart on people who work with me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As one of the newest addition to the 22nd CNMI Legislature representing Precinct 5, Rep….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":339750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-supplement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339748","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\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}