Education Commissioner Lawrence Camacho, left, shakes hands with Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho after a meeting on Wednesday.
“WE value the engagement of our community in the way we operate as a Public School System,” Commissioner of Education Lawrence Camacho said after meeting with Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho on Wednesday afternoon.
“The community’s contribution, their input, and their advice on how we can…make our educational system better is, I think, critical and important, the COE said.
PSS educates its students and provides support for them inside and outside the classroom, he added.
“But beyond the campus is our community and we need community partnership…and the link to the community is through the mayor’s office. If we partner and work with the community it’s going to help the education system in the long run,” he added.
The COE said he wants to go out with the mayor and visit each village on Saipan. He wants to “understand the environment the students are coming from, and identify…what needs to be done to lift those students [who need help]…. We have a lot of ideas on what to do…to fix some of the issues in the villages. Because if we fix them then students will come better prepared at school,” the COE added.
Among these concerns are absenteeism as well as behavioral and mental health issues.
“We want to look at the socio-economic conditions of the environment where students are coming from…and how they affect their behavior and study motivation,” the COE said.
For his part, Mayor Camacho said he is planning to hold a town hall meetings with Parent Teacher Student Associations to address issues involving vandalism, criminal activities, cleanups, among other things.
He said office will also continue implementing the adopt-a-place program, islandwide community cleanup activities, among other community efforts to foster a “Safe Community, a Safe Village, and a Clean Island.”
