Early-childhood educators, parents, and children pose for a photo with Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang during a proclamation signing ceremony for CNMI Childhood Matter Month on Thursday at the multi-purpose center.
GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang on Thursday signed a proclamation designing June as CNMI Children Matter Month to honor early-childhood education.
The event was coordinated by Evergreen Learning, an organization on Saipan that partners with educators and educational institutions to “improve their professional practice through assessment/evaluation, research, training, and technical assistance,” according to its website.
At the proclamation-signing event were children, early childhood educators, and officials and personnel of the Child Care Development Fund.
CCDF Administrator Maribel Loste took the opportunity to share the news that her program, which falls under the purview of the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, serves around 800 young children in center-based and home-based daycares on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
Eric Atalig is one such home childcare provider who benefits from Evergreen Learning and the CCDF. He watches over his grandchildren.
He said the workshops provided by Evergreen Learning have helped him reevaluate his approach to interacting with children. Atalig said his new approaches are very different from the childcare “techniques” that were used when he was growing up.
“Growing up, it was ‘say as I do, do as you’re told, and don’t talk back,’ ” Atalig said. “It’s just how it was back in the days, but through the decades the most important thing that I’ve learned was about mental health issues involved when a child is growing up.”
