By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

DEFENDING champions Saipan Southern High School and Saipan Community School successfully defended their titles during the 4th Annual Build a Castle, Save a Reef competition on Saturday at Hyatt Regency Beach Park.
SSHS bested seven other contenders in the high school division while SCS was named overall winner in the junior division which saw the participation of five other school teams.
The theme this year was “From the land to the sea.”
According to SSHS coach Joseph Weaver, their team’s entry showed some of the “good and bad ” things that people can see in the waters.
“Although we encountered a little problem with our structure, we still managed to build our piece,” he said, adding that their entry collapsed just an hour before the competition ended.
“Whether you look at the back or the front, you can see what’s in the environment…both the negative like the garbage and also the rich marine resources,” Weaver said.
The four-member team included Mario Kaipat, MacQueen Masaharu, Adrian Muna, and John Meco Sablan.
The competition started around 8 a.m. and judging was completed by 3:15 p.m.
In the junior division, the SCS team composed of Mindy Song, Jane Kim, Yuri Song and Nisho Torres said “it’s good to be winners again.”
Their coach Debbie Winkfield said the school has been participating in the event since it started four years ago.
“This is the second time (we have won the title) and we’re very happy — it really feels good,” she said, adding that like other participants, they also faced “structural problems” during the competition.
“Because we’ve been practicing for a month, we were able to recover. They were so familiar with the form that when it collapsed we knew what to do….and we did it,” she said.
The other winners in the junior competition were Whispering Palms School’s Teams A and B which won second and third prizes.
The Starfish Award was given to Chacha Oceanview Junior High.
In the high school division, Tinian High School placed second while Marianas High School and Saipan International School shared third prize.
The Starfish Award recipient was Rota Jr. High School.
Besides cash prizes ranging from $100 to $300, the winners were given handcrafted turtle trophies presented by 2007 Miss Teen CNMI Kayla Atalig and Little Miss CNMI Northen Opal.
A cake was also lighted during the competition in celebration of the 5th birthday of Light in the Eve, the organizer of the competition.
Light in the Eve president Teresa Kim said they were elated with the turnout for this year’s competition.
“We’re very proud of Team Rota which was not able to get here until 12:30 but managed to finish their piece on time. With the enthusiasm they showed, they got the Starfish Award,” she told Variety. “We’re very happy — as you can see the skills get sharper and sharper and kids came up with great ideas…we’re very impressed with their creativity.”
The Division of Environmental Quality partnered with the foundation this year to make the competition “a jumpstart” for next year’s celebration of the International Year of the Reef.
The panel of judges on Saturday included Perry Tenorio, the Marianas Visitors Authority’s managing director; Lynn Knight of Tan Holdings; James Matsumoto, Wells Fargo; Frank Castro, DEQ; and Australia’s master sand sculptor Steve Machell who also built a demonstration piece.