In other words, I went from a young teenager who was all about fun, to a grown man who now takes certain things seriously,” said Peter Kapileo who is from Saipan and an incoming sophomore at Saguaro High School, Scottsdale, Az. Peter was one of many local high school students from the Pacific Islands who attended the Arizona State University, or ASU, Asian LEAD Academy 2011 Summer Leadership Program.
A total of 23 students attended the high school program this year including 10 Pacific Islanders: Peter Kapileo from Saipan, Nadajya Jacklick, Denisa Momotaro, Calmer Naisher, Billma Peter, and
Tiare Sawej from the Republic of the Marshall Islands; Meriya Lombrana, Megan Perry, and Rachel Tomlinson from Hawaii; and Elizabeth Faussane from Tahiti. Moreover, when the awards were given out at the closing luncheon banquet, Pacific Islander students ended up with every award.
The Asian LEAD Academy also has a university component for incoming ASU freshmen. This year had two students from Guam, Carlo Andreas Hernandez and Christiane Paulino Quintana, and from Hawaii, Orlando and Genaro Moreno attended. Last year, Jovan Ngirmechaet Morriss from the Republic of Palau was the first Pacific Islander to attend the University Component.
This year’s high school program director is Norean Fritz Sablan who is from Saipan. Norean graduated in 2007 with a degree of bachelor of interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in business and Asian Pacific American Studies from ASU. She now holds a position with ASU as student rights and responsibilities. Manju Ramadurai from India was the college program director. She is a graduate from ASU and holds a position as activity advisor of the Student Organization Resources Center. Five undergraduate facilitators assisted the two directors during the two-week program.
The ASU Asian LEAD Academy first started in 1994 to provide academic support and leadership skills training through enrichment activities for high school students of Asian/Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage. It is a two-week summer leadership program and held every year in June. The mission statement of the ASU Asian LEAD Academy is “To provide opportunities and resources for youth, particularly Asian American and Pacific Islander high school students and incoming college freshmen, to reach their full potential as leaders in a multi-cultural society.”
Denisa Momotaro said: “I strongly believe that LEAD has impacted my life now and will impact my life in the future, simply because I have learned a lot of things that I never even bothered to realize.” She continues to say, “because of my knowledge and what I know now, I can be able to stand up for what I think is right, because now I know I have rights to do so. All thanks to LEAD, I can be a better leader or at least try, since it is better to try and fail, than fail to try!” Denisa Momotaro traveled over five thousand miles from the Republic of the Marshall Islands to attend the ASU LEAD Academy after hearing about the program from her sister who is an upper classman at ASU.
