Saipan Southern High School’s Manta Ray Battalion JROTC cadets and their senior army instructor, CSM (Ret.) Richard Basa, pose for a photo at Pakpak Beach where they conducted a cleanup on Saturday morning.
ON March 16, 2024, Saipan Southern High School’s Manta Ray Battalion JROTC cadets and their senior army instructor, CSM (Ret.) Richard Basa conducted a cleanup at Pakpak Beach from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. as part of their community service requirement.
Before the cleanup started, the cadets were given their safety briefing and issued gloves, trash bags, and road guard vests. The battalion’s cadets were then split into two groups. Group #1 consisted of HQ and Alpha companies, which started on the south side of the beach, and Group #2, consisting of Bravo, Charlie companies, and staff members, started on the north side of the beach.
C/PVT Jacoba, Denilyn said: “I thought of the beach cleanup as a great experience to clean up our community. It’s an experience for the future because it helps our environment and teaches us how to come and work together.”
C/CPL Sablan, Faith said, “The cleanup last Saturday was good. It was a good experience that I was allowed to participate in, and it’s great to see that the younger generations are beautifying the community.”
C/CPT Lifoifoi, Jaron stated, “The beach cleanup was a great experience, especially since it is one of the last community service events I will do before I end my JROTC journey as a senior cadet. It was an amazing way to contribute to my community with the program that taught me so many things throughout high school.”
The cadet leaders monitored and tracked the different types of trash during the cleanup. Plastics and cigarette butts made up the majority of the litter, resulting in filling up approximately nine trash bags. After cleaning the two beach areas, the cadets gathered all the trash bags that needed disposal.
The Manta Ray cadets are proud to be able to participate in cleanup events that help beautify our beaches and conserve our environment. We would like to thank all the cadets who showed up bright and early to help make this clean-up a success! Mega Hooah cadets!
