My Marianas

HJHS’s MYWAVE Club conducts beach cleanup
(Published in the January 3, 2013 issue of Marianas Variety)  

 

INSTEAD of staying in bed or lazing around on a fine Saturday morning last month, a group of students got up early and dedicated time and effort to pick up trash along the populated beaches from the Sugar Dock to the Hopwood Junior High School.

The students are members of the Hopwood Junior High School’s MYWAVE Club, the biggest and most active club under the Marianas Tourism Education Council, along with members of the student council.

HJHS MYWAVE club advisor Jenn Castro said the HJHS’s MYWAVE Club under club president Joanna Garcia, seven Club Advisors and HJHS Student Council president Joshua Mendiola led a group of 57 members for the beautification project on December 8, 2012.

Castro said the beach cleanup was approved by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and Marianas Visitors Authority’s “Cash for Trash” program where the group received $200 for cleaning the beach and picnic areas. The group collected several bags of beer and soda cans, plastic food wrappers, mineral water bottles, and other trash.

Castro said the HJHS MYWAVE Club members are trying to raise enough funds to attend the Guam Tourism Educational Council’s annual Tourism Summit that will be held this month.

In November last year, the HJHS MYWAVE club also conducted a beach cleanup from San Antonio Beach to Sugar Dock sponsored by the Division of Environmental Quality. DEQ earlier said this beach cleanup was the longest stretch of cleanup area attempted.

Beach cleanups is just one of the many activities the HJHS MYWAVE club as well as all the other MYWAVE Clubs in other schools are planning to help promote tourism.

The Club members believe that having clean beaches, clean roads and streets is one important way of attracting tourists, make them come back again and again, and spread the word to others in their parts of the world.

Next to beach cleanups, the students have more activities planned up—all geared to meet the goal of making ‘Tourism as Everybody’s Business.”

MTEC, a non-profit organization which aims to educate the public on the importance of the tourism industry and the MVA launched its annual outreach to public and private schools in the NMI to encourage more active participation in the MYWAVE Clubs. Beach cleanups are also included in the activities planned by MYWAVE clubs in other schools. Watch this page for updates from the other MYWAVE Clubs.

For more information about MTEC, please email Projects Manager Martin Duenas at mduenas@mymarianas.com or call 664-3210.

THIS year’s Saipan International Fishing Tournament will start on Saturday and boats will leave as early as 6 a.m. from Smiling Cove Marina, Sugar Dock and the Garapan Fishing Base.

Judging and awarding of prizes will be done as soon as the participants return in the afternoon.

Last year’s winner was Mike James of Guam who hauled in a 942-pound marlin. Prizes and special recognitions were also given in the bill fish, yellow fin, wahoo and mahi mahi categories.

Participants said the thrill they get from the competition is priceless, even if they don’t get the top prizes.

Check out www.sfacnmi.com for updates, photos, announcements, local news, tide charts, daily catches, weather updates and more information about the Fishers of the Marianas, or call the Marianas Visitors Authority at 664-3200 for schedules and updates.

- See more at: http://www.mvariety.com/special-features/my-marianas/57314-gone-fishing#sthash.BlPdkuXA.dpuf