Education

CSP’s Environmental Awareness Program works to educate all Pohnpei residents about the importance of their surrounding environment and encourages their participation in conservation activities. Though CSP works with all ages, it especially targets Pohnpei’s youth, the future of this island. The Society’s primary programs are the Youth-to-Youth in Environmental Awareness and Education Program which works with grade six classes from seven local schools; the Green Road Show which travels to all the elementary schools on the island and works with grade five classes; an Environmental Club for high school students and Community Outreaches, which involve all Pohnpeian citizens. CSP has also directed its public education efforts towards the production of several publications, which include a quarterly newsletter, weekly radio programs, video, posters, a children’s activity booklet, and numerous resource materials.

Since its pilot year in 2002, the Green Road Show has been a total success. The Green Road Show is a mobile, all-inclusive and entertaining environmental education program directed toward Pohnpei’s fifth graders. It is the first environmental education program focused specifically on Pohnpei’s conservation issues. The school children anxiously await the traveling show on wheels and our educators are always warmly greeted as they drive around town in their painted vehicle. The pre and post test results show a drastic increase in the participant’s knowledge of their environment.

The program is run by two Environmental Educators that visit all the primary schools six times throughout the school year. Each session is centered on one of four environmental topics: Upland Forest, Mangroves, Coral Reef, and Waste and Pollution. The environmental educators deliver the talks in a fun, visual and hands-on approach, using an array of educational resources. Each student receives a Student Activity Booklet and posters with information about each topic are left for the classroom. The teachers have no preparation responsibilities regarding the program, but are encouraged to participate and to reinforce the message after the presentations. The program aims to motivate the teachers to continue giving the environmental message between visits of the "The Green Road Show", and to ultimately have environmental education integrated into the curriculum.

Borrowing from the very successful Youth-to-Youth public education and awareness program in the Marshall Islands, the Conservation Society of Pohnpei has tailored the approach to improve environmental awareness and education in Pohnpei. Together with partners, CSP is coordinating the Pwulopwul ohng me Pwulopwul (Youth to Youth) environmental program in seven schools. The program partners each school with a state agency or non-governmental organization to work on an environmental project throughout the school year. Projects that have been implemented previously include lowland sakau production, water quality testing, medicinal plant gardening, marine surveying, Marine Protected Areas, Persistent Organic Pollutants, marine conservation practices, mangrove forest, agro-forestry, upland forest/deforestation and recyclable art. The respective agency, teachers and students carry out their chosen activity in the surrounding community.

The goal of the campaign is two-fold: to extend positive environmental initiatives to more communities in Pohnpei and to encourage teachers and students to get more involved in addressing these local environmental issues. The program also builds the students confidence in working with their peers to address the environmental needs of their communities. Through these activities, the students are to become active contributors in developing a sustainable future for Pohnpei. The program culminates in a fair where students showcase what they learned from their mentor agencies in the form of skits, poster shows, presentations, songs and dances. The fair is also taped and aired on the local radio station and recorded and edited for the local TV station.

The 2004-05 school year the education program implemented an Environmental Club for grades 9-12 from three local schools. The club meets twice a month, and takes part in workshops, lectures and a number of different activities, like town clean-ups. The Environmental Club is intended to present Pohnpei specific and global environmental information to interested students by participating in hands-on activities which are relevant to conservation efforts. The club also hopes to promote science, math, and environmental careers and support the students in becoming peer and community educators for their environment and ‘owners’ of their natural heritage.

In its second year the club hoped to expand its membership and its scope of activities in the communities. Activities included participation in CSP’s RARE flagship species campaign, radio program production, video making, mural painting, community outreach and environmental songs. The club also held its first summer camp on the islands of Lenger and Kehpara last summer. 2005’s summer marine environmental camp gave the students the opportunity to participate in coral identification, fish monitoring, GPS techniques and Marine Protected Areas exploration. These activities were complimented by a number of presentations by local experts on relevant marine conservation issues. The camp will be a yearly event, alternating between marine and terrestrial themes. In 2007 CSP held its first terrestrial summer camp. Students learned about the Watershed Forrest Reserve, Ethnobotany, Forestry, bird surveys and got to hike Nahnalaud, the highest mountain in Pohnpei.