Habele Robotics League adds 23rd Micronesian High School

Madolenihmw High School has joined the Pohnpei Robo League, making it the 23rd high school in Micronesia to offer students the chance to design, build, and compete robots on their own, and in partnership with other high school teams.

Located in Pohnlangas, Madolenihmw High School (MHS) serves students in the central east of Pophnei island, to the east of Mount Nahna Laud and south of Mount Kapwuriso. NHS is also the high school closest to the ruins of Nan Madol, a series of megalithic monuments on nearly 100 artificial islets on a coral reef offshore.

High Tech Robots in Remote Micronesian Islands

Student achievement and the US-Micronesian partnership were on display this week in Yap, as five high schools battled it out in an elimination style robotics competition.

Yap Robo Day was the culmination of a school year long project in which student led teams designed and built robots. The League provides students at remote island schools practical experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Parents, Educators, & Leaders talk Robots in Yap

Three students from Yap represented the Federated States of Micronesia at an international robotics competition in Washington DC this summer. One of nearly two hundred national and regional teams competing, the Micronesian students bested seasoned squads from developed nations including the United States and France.

Now there is talk of expanding the modest “Yap Robo League,” allowing more island students the opportunity to engage in robotics through high school based clubs and classes in the remote Western Pacific.

Private Scholarships Offer Micronesians Access to Opportunity

(Colonia, Yap) A dozen Micronesian students are headed to prestigious private schools this fall, thanks to Habele K-12 tuition scholarships. These students will attend the independent school of their family’s choosing.

Described as “an investment in human capital,” these grants are funded by donations from former Peace Corps Volunteers, tourists, and other Americans with a personal connection to Micronesia.

Micronesian canoe reassembly highlights interwoven FSM-US ties

Reprinted with permission from the Kaselehlie Press

Micronesian citizens living in Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, gathered in South Carolina in mid-May to reassemble a traditional paddling canoe. The boat was crafted in Yap and serves as a symbol of the interwoven history of the American and Micronesian Peoples.

From Stone Money to STEM Olympians: Micronesian students head to International Robotics Competition

The famously traditional Island of Stone Money is sending top students to a high tech global robotics competition.

Students from 153 nations will gather in Washington DC this summer for the international high school robotics Olympics. Few will have traveled as far –geographically or culturally– as the Robo League team from Yap.

The FIRST Global Challenge is a worldwide robotics competition. Small student teams design, build, and compete complex robots from simple parts. The work demands hands-on mastery of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills. Featuring teams from across the planet, it also serves as a forum for students to meet and partner with diverse international peers.

Students in Yap –a remote Micronesian Island most famous for its Stone Money– established their own Robotics League in 2011, holding Micronesia’s first public exhibition in summer of 2012.

Organized by US-based NGO “Habele,” the Yap Robo League remains the only coordinated multi-year robotics program in the Central or Western Pacific. It has grown and thrived through a defining partnership with a robotics team at Chaminade College Preparatory School, in Los Angeles, California. In-kind gifts of time and talent, as well as private donations and local fundraisers entirely finance the league.

Ambitious Micronesians awarded private tuition scholarships

A dozen students from across Micronesia will enroll in prestigious private schools this fall with the help of Habele tuition scholarships. Attendance at these schools radically increases the children’s’ chances of completing school and moving on to higher education.

The investment isn’t coming from a top-down government aid program or an influence peddling foreign conglomerate, it arrives care of Habele, a tiny all-volunteer charity funded entirely by individual Americans with a personal commitment to Micronesia.