ON behalf of their nearly 10,000 peers in the Public School System, a group of Chacha Ocean View Middle School students on Monday thanked PSS librarians for not only “giving us new books, but also for the opportunity to discover new things and for everything that you do for us students.”
Students Anastacia Minor, Maya Jung, Mary Among, Gregorio Rodriguez, Lucia Deleon Guerrero, Elle Tudela and Akieko Atinisom read the Board of Education’s proclamation designating April as National School Library Month during a ceremony at Chacha.
“Thank you for doing everything that you’ve done for us, from giving us new books to new things to learn and discover — we really want to thank you all,” the students told the librarians.
The BOE proclamation honored all of Saipan, Tinian and Rota public school librarians who were participating in a professional development session in the Chacha school library. The PSS Office of Curriculum and Instruction facilitated the professional development.
BOE Secretary/Treasurer Gregory Pat Borja signed the proclamation.
In his remarks, Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred Ada encouraged all public education stakeholders, including parents, to honor librarians. “Even just to greet them every morning or every time you drop off and pick up your children at school,” he said.
He told the librarians: “From your spoken words to the snippets of notes you share with our students — they make a lot of difference. You are all creative and intelligent. Librarians, you are our students’ champions.”
Ada also paid tribute to a librarian who had a profound influence on his professional growth — the late Richard Gramlich.
“He was a true friend. We both started at PSS together,” Ada said, adding that Gramlich arrived on Saipan in 1993 and worked as a classroom teacher. He was a librarian for San Vicente Elementary School when he retired in 2015.
“Today, I would also like to dedicate this proclamation to him. He was the librarian that had an impact on my life,” Ada said.
For her part, a former PSS State Librarian of the Year and State Teacher of the Year, Maria Ornes of Kagman High School, expressed her appreciation to PSS leaders and school administrators.
“We thank you for letting us do our job by providing us with support and resources,” Ornes said.
She likewise commended the PSS Instructional Technology Department led by interim director Lorraine Catienza.
“The technology resources and support are phenomenal,” Ornes said.
“Thanks to the support of our commissioner of education and Senior Director for Curriculum and Instruction Jackie Quitugua, we are just very appreciative of everything that we have: functioning libraries with the resources that support our students and staff’s needs,” Ornes added.
Quitugua, whose office oversees school librarians, praised them for “being self-directed.”
She also commended them for the successful staging of the 31st Annual Pacific Island Association of Libraries, Archives and Museums Conference held on Dec. 4-7, 2022 on Saipan.
“You all took the lead, so thank you for making it happen,” she added.
Public school librarians pose for a photo with Board of Education Secretary/Treasurer Gregory Pat Borja, Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred B. Ada, Senior Director for Curriculum and Instruction Jackie Quitugua, students and other school personnel during the School Library Month proclamation signing ceremony Monday at Chacha Ocean View Middle School.
Chacha Ocean View Middle School students Anastacia Minor, Maya Jung, Mary Amog, Gregorio Rodriguez, Lucia Deleon Guerrero, Elle Tudela, and Akieko Atinisom pose for a photo before reading the Board of Education proclamation designating April as School Library Month.
Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred B. Ada, Public School System Senior Director for Curriculum and Instruction Jackie Quitugua, Finance and Budget Director Arlene Lizama, Human Resources Officer Lucretia Deleon Guerrero and Instructional Technology and Distance Education interim Director Lorraine Catienza display the #wakeupandreadcnmi flyers honoring public school librarians.
Chacha Ocean View Middle School students take turns in reading the School Library Month proclamation.
Board of Education Secretary/Treasury Gregory Pat Borja signs the School Library Month proclamation while Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred B. Ada and Senior Director Jackie Quitugua applaud.
Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred B. Ada, left, described public school librarians as the students’ “champions.”
