Teens want Tinian’s major route potholes fixed

By Jadine Hocog
MV Teen Reporter

TINIAN’S teenage drivers are tired of the damage the pot holes on Route 201 and 202 are causing to their cars and would like the roads fixed as soon as possible.
Route 201 leads from Uncle Joe’s bar to the Tinian Marine Stevedore and Route 202 leads from the Tinian Ice and Water to the Tinian Ferry Dock.
Both routes are about 61 years old in need major repairing, and although the funding for the road repair was approved since 2003, nothing yet has been done.
According to Assistant Resident Director Head of Public Works, Luis Lizama, the project for Route 201 and 202 will begin in two months.
“We are in the final stages for the Route 201 and 202 projects and once we initiate the notice to proceed, we will begin working on it two months from now. It will take about 300 days to finish Route 202 due to implementing sidewalks on both sides of the road, a water drainage system, new telephone poles, as well as installing a fire hydrant. After we are done with Route 202, we will then begin working on Route 201,” said Lizama.
“We cannot afford to make any changes because the Federal Highway Association is very strict and if we do make any changes at all, it will take us another 6 months before we can start. We need to start as soon as possible because both of these Routes are very important to the people because it is the outlet to the schools, stores, church, and to our people’s houses,” he noted.
“We ask the people to please be patient because we are doing our very best in making this project move faster. We are very much concerned because this not only affects the people, but it also affects us because we are in charge of making sure the people’s concerns, especially about the roads, are granted,” he added.
Although the project will start two months from now, several teens are still concerned because the damages that occur to their vehicles make it difficult to go to school.
“My car recently had a flat tire because the potholes are too deep. Every time I go to work, I am always late because I have to drive at least 3miles per hour. It really disturbs me when it is muddy and a car just drives fast and the mud ends up going to my car. This is really ridiculous,” said 19 year-old Leonardo Aveina.
Another teen says it is difficult driving home.
“It’s hard for me to go home because I have to pass by Route 201 and 202 just to get to my house which is a long drive. It bothers me a lot because my car is too old to be driving through the potholes,” said 16 year-old Nathan Borja.
“Just a couple of months ago, my parents had to change all four tires because we had a flat tire after passing by those routes all the time,” he said.
“The roads are so damaged that even though people try to fix it, it just gets worse and worse. I just hope that once the roads are fixed, it will be permanent for another 20 years or more so that we can stop all this complaining and be happy and get on with our lives,” said 17 year-old Joseph Hocog.
“The roads seem to be an issue for so long. Just like in Marpo Valley. It has been damaged for so long and it took them more than 10 years to realize that they need to fix it. I have been living in Marpo Valley all my life and just two years ago, it was fixed,” he laughed.

Teen dance group to perform at concert

By Jacqueline Dela Cruz
MV Teen Reporter

Members of one of the island’s most popular teenage Filipino dance groups, “Project Impact”, are excited to perform with Filipino actors and actresses at an upcoming concert this November.
“According to the Philippine Consulate, they gave me a call saying that my group will perform at World Resort for a concert next month,” said choreographer Marlon Francisco.
Project Impact has been daily performing at Garapan Street Market for over a year now. The group has about 15 members from ages 13 to19 years old.
“We still have fun and perform. Our group’s goal is to be known and exposed on the island,” said Francisco.
Francisco, who is from the Philippines, had been dancing since his elementary school years and has participated in many dance group competitions.
In 2001, he became a professional dancer for the Human Touch dance group in a famous Filipino TV show called GMA (Great Manila Area). He also managed a dance group in the Philippines, called “Dugong Bughaw,” meaning “royal blood.”
He came to Saipan in 2004, and created Project Impact in August 2006.
“At first, it was hard to be the group leader because there were a lot of members that didn’t know how to dance, there were some that were acting foolish, but later, once I got to know them more, I saw that they had a passion in dancing, and then things became easier for me,” said Francisco.
Project Impact member Madalyn Guevarra says, “I’ve been a part of the group for almost a year now, and I am having so much fun. I like seeing the crowd, especially tourists enjoy our shows. I not only have fun but it keeps me in good shape. This is like my exercise. Project Impact brings so much joy to my life!”
For more information, call Marlon Francisco at 287-3324 or contact Maryann at 234-0402.

Hopwood students enjoy pep rally

By Jacqueline Dela Cruz
MV Teen Reporter

HOPWOOD Jr. High School students enjoyed their first pep rally of the school year last Thursday at their campus stage in San Antonio.
The pep rally featured creative games and performances as well as showcased the unified spirit of the administration, teachers and students in a half-day celebration.
Each challenge depended on what game and team the students were in.
There were six teams in this event, which are teams A, B, C composed of 7th graders and teams D, E, F, which are the 8th graders.
The games were Chocolate Eating Contest, Tug of War, Break Dancing and Cheerleading Dance Contests, Water Balloon Pass and Egg Toss Contest.
“It was really fun, even though it rained and was a half day for us. It was exciting especially the tug of war. My team lost but I had fun,” said 13-year old STUCO president Natashia Palacios.
The game winners did not get through the challenges easily.
For the chocolate eating contest, the winner from Team F had to eat a large bar of Hershey, and 4 small chocolate bars in the quickest time.
Team F won Tug of War challenge, and the water toss and egg toss contest games. For the dancing competition, Team F won the cheering contest and Team A won the battle for break dancing.