Agnes Manglona McPhetres, left, and Chailang Palacios-Power are two local women who have contributed greatly to the educational and public health development of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. McPhetres helped found Northern Marianas College in the early 1980’s with Kit Porter. Today NMC offers many degrees and certificates, including bachelor and associate degrees in education, business, nursing, and other fields. Palacios-Power was a public health educator for many years, stressing to the CNMI community that it is important to eat nutritious foods and drinks for our bodies, minds, and souls. She also emphasized that betel nut chewing is addictive and may cause oral cancer. Her message was and still is today: It is vitally important not to start chewing betel nut. There are other local women and local men who have helped the CNMI community in many ways, and we thank them.
Text by Lupe Borja Robinson
