{"id":404597,"date":"2024-01-25T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=404597"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Students-have-Green-encounters-at-MTEC-Tourism-Summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Students-have-Green-encounters-at-MTEC-Tourism-Summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Students have \u2018Green\u2019 encounters at MTEC Tourism Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nature came up close and personal for student members and chaperones of school MY WAVE\u2014Marianas Youth Welcome All Visitors Enthusiastically\u2014clubs at the Marianas Tourism Education Council Tourism Summit last Friday, Jan. 19.<\/p>\n

In line with the theme \u201cGreen Spaces, Memorable Places\/K\u00e5mpun Betdi, K\u00e5mpun Rikuetdu\/Llingil Leyil Wal\u00fawal,\u201d approximately 300 attendees were bused to iconic tourism spots in the lush greenery of Marpi, Saipan, where guest speakers shared about various eco-tourism topics.<\/p>\n

At Last Command Post students learned how to identify several bird species by sight and sound\u2014including the Marianas Kingfisher and Marianas fruit dove\u2014from Dr. Willson Gaul, who teaches biology at Northern Marianas College, and his team members Rabeya Aktar and April Lisua. Students were then given the opportunity to listen for bird calls themselves, and some caught a rare sight of the endangered Marianas fruit dove, a Micronesian starling, and other species.<\/p>\n

At Bird Island Lookout, Run Saipan president Edward S. Dela Cruz Jr. drove home the importance of tourism for the students and their families and shared his experience and passion for racing and organizing race events in the Marianas for residents and visitors. To the delight of the participants, a pod of dolphins made a rare appearance at the iconic overlook during the summit.<\/p>\n

With high winds pushing the ocean spray above the cliff line at dive site Banzai Cliff, PADI instructor Sydney Takahashi\u2014the owner and operator of FishGuyz\u2014 taught students about different ways coral reefs can be damaged and encouraged the MY WAVE Club members to be ocean protectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing! Working with the kids also taught me a lot,\u201d said Takahashi, who has worked as a dive instructor in both Saipan and Hawaii. \u201cI wish they continue doing this\u2026it\u2019s a very, very good program.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the tour, select students served as tour guides on their respective buses, sharing information about the tour sites. The summit aimed to inspire students with information and activities focused on the Marianas\u2019 primary economic driver, tourism. This year\u2019s summit focused on the importance of trees, forests, and other natural green spaces, particularly with the desire of today\u2019s traveler for environmental conservation and physical, mental, and spiritual rejuvenation. Following the Marpi tours, students planted a total of 10 trees at Garapan Central Park and Sugar King Park, with the support of the Saipan Mayor\u2019s Office and the Department of Lands & Natural Resources Division of Agriculture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the support of the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Hotel Association of the NMI, we were able to accommodate a large number of students in this year\u2019s MTEC Tourism Summit,\u201d said MTEC chair Vicky Benavente. \u201cWe\u2019re extremely grateful to the schools\u2019 club advisors, who have dedicated their time to help us teach about the importance of caring for our islands\u2019 natural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Garapan Central Park students also visited educational exhibits by American Memorial Park; Division of Fish & Wildlife Aquatic Education Program, Sea Turtle Conservation Program, and Fisheries Conservation & Management; Department of Land & Natural Resources enforcement officers; Marianas Visitors Authority; Northern Marianas College; Micronesian Islands Nature Alliance; Northern Marianas Museum of History & Culture; Northern Marianas Technical Institute; National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration; and U.S. Fish & Wildlife.<\/p>\n

MTEC\u2019s outreach activities this school year are supported by the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands and the MVA.<\/p>\n

For more information on MTEC or starting a school MY WAVE club, contact MVA Community Projects specialist Jack Aranda at jaranda@mymarianas.com<\/a> or tel. no. (670) 664-3200\/1. (MTEC)<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rabeya Aktar of Northern Marianas College teaches bird names and bird calls to students at Last Command Post in Marpi, Saipan, during the Marianas Tourism Education Council Tourism Summit on Jan. 19, 2024. The theme of this year\u2019s summit is \u201cGreen Spaces, Memorable Places\/K\u00e5mpun Betdi, K\u00e5mpun Rikuetdu\/Llingil Leyil Wal\u00fawal.\u201d<\/p>\n

-MTEC
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nature came up close and personal for student members and chaperones of school MY WAVE\u2014Marianas…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-404597","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\/404597","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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}