Managaha Memories: Friday

Saipan (as seen from the shores of Managaha)


The Island

Camp Site

"Welcome to My Island." One of the heroes of "Micronesian Queen's" people is buried on Managaha--the great Carolinian leader that brought his people to Saipan more than 150 years ago. As a result the island has special significance for the Carolinian people.

Our annual Outdoor School Campout to Managaha Island was last weekend, Thursday, February 26 through Sunday, March 1, 2009. As always it was a fun time with our school family. A lot of precious memories were made. Here are a few of them:

K-9 Class
This year one of our class sessions was presented by the K-9 police unit. Their presentation included some exciting demonstrations by their drug-sniffing dogs.

A K-9 officer prepares to go to work.


The K-9 officers pose with SDA students and teachers.

Alumni: Once an SDA student, always an SDA student

Two generations of SDA school students. The girls on the left are current students of ours. The woman on the right is Brooke Nevitt one of our alumni. Brooke graduated from SDA's 8th grade in 1993, I believe (I also taught her brother, Daniel, during my first year in Saipan way back in 1998). Though her family moved off island quite a few years ago, Brooke's been back on-island for awhile. She's served as the principal of Northern Marianas Academy and is currently working for Coastal Resources Management and it was in that capacity that she came out as a presenter to the students of her alma mater.



Alumnus and former student of mine Myla Grace Capilitan (center with striped top) with her fiance Derek, her son and her mother. I'm sure it was pretty wild to come back for this year's outdoor school as a mother and presenter when it wasn't so along ago that she was one of the kids.


Prepping for the bonfire: Kids unload wood collected for the bonfire Friday night where'd we'd later roast marshmellows for s'mores and share precious time together.

Marshmallow roasting sticks the made island-style


Suppertime for the Little Fella: Elijah simply loved the entire weekend. I've never seen him in such a good mood. He loves being outside and this weekend he was outside virtually all the time, even at dinner!

Jaimie Nickell with her parents, Jerry and Toni Nickell. Jerry was our week of prayer speaker for the week leading up to the campout and our speaker throughout the weekend. It was so wonderful to have them here with us.


Daddy and Daughter: Jerry and Jaimie share some quality time on Managaha



Cooking Groups
On Friday evening, the students met with their teams and cooked an item to contribute to supper that night. It's one of many Managaha traditions.

"Micronesian Queen" studies the mysteries of Barbecue: "Our group should do barbecue!" my students cried during our planning session before the camp out. "Ohhh, guys. I don't know how." "I do" said one student. "So do I" called another one. Against my better judgement I agreed. And though the rice cooked over the grill was hard, the barbecue--when it was FINALLY finished, was quite good.

Traditional local-style "red" rice and chicken on the grill.

One of the other cooking groups working on their contributions for the Friday evening meal.

Grilling into the night: Night fell, everyone else went ahead and ate, and we were still waiting for our barbeque to finish. My student "J" reminds me that it turned out fine in the end--and it did. It just took a long, long time. The last of the barbeque we ate for breakfast the next morning because supper was long over by the time it was finished.

Why We do What We Do: The Kids. It's all about the kids.

One of our new students this year, from Korea. He is known for seeming for polite and well-mannered to teachers and adults, but also having a mischevious streak that shows up among his peers. He's quite a character!











The girl on the left, who I call "Bella" is turning out to be quite a basketball star!

The boy in the white t-shirt is getting a lot of attention from the ladies this year!