January 22, 2020

INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORTS ASSOCIATION OPENING DAY GAME

The Guam Department of Education and Guam Education Board (GEB) celebrated the first Interscholastic Sports Association (ISA) game of the season held on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 at the Tiyan High School gymnasium.

The inaugural ISA basketball game was held between Tiyan High School and Okkodo High School. The Tiyan High School Air Force Junior ROTC color guard performed the opening ceremonies, followed by welcoming remarks from the GEB Chairman and Superintendent of Education.

“I want to thank everyone who has been a part of this transition and who has been working hard to ensure we have a good quality program,” former GEB Chairman and current Vice Chair Mark Mendiola said. “Just the other day we partnered with the Guam National Olympic Committee to prepare our athletes and our coaches, so there are a lot of great things coming out of this program, and we’re looking forward to having a great season ahead of us.”

“This weekend we were excited at the participation we received during the student athlete awareness program held with the Guam National Olympic Committee,” Superintendent Jon Fernandez said. “During the program, we saw our coaches, athletic directors, and our student athletes gather to talk about topics such as safety, anti-doping, and concussions.”

“The reason we are working to bring everyone together is not just for the competition, but to provide our kids with the resources and information they need to be successful and to develop into well-rounded student athletes. This is a historic game and we look forward to the start of a great season,” Fernandez added.

The welcoming remarks were followed by a commemorative basketball tip-off at center court by Mendiola between the opposing teams. During the opening game, board members and department leadership also sported a celebratory ISA t-shirt that was created to commemorate the opening of the ISA league.

For more information about ISA sports, please contact Acting Sports Program Coordinator Al Garrido at the Division of Curriculum and Instruction via email at algarrido@gdoe.net or at 300-1377.

January 21, 2020

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 2020 SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONSCIOUS DISCIPLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE), in conjunction with the Pacific Resources for Educational Learning (PREL) Pacific Regional Comprehensive Center (PRCC) and the Department of Public Health and Social Services will be hosting a two-day professional learning experience on "Social and Emotional Development: Conscious Discipline" this week.

Educational Consultant with Conscious Discipline, Amy Speidel, will be the training’s lead facilitator. The professional development training will discuss comprehensive classroom management and social-emotional curriculum, to include current brain research, child development information and developmentally appropriate practices for working with young children. The training sessions will be held Thursday, January 23, and Friday, January 24, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Pacific Star Hotel.

The training is intended to increase the knowledge and skills of early childhood educators who shape children’s Social and Emotional Development (SED) during the first eight years of life.  The training will focus on a birth through 3^rd grade continuum with an emphasis on increasing the understanding of SED components with early childhood education central office specialists, counselors, preschool directors and teachers. 

Participants will be trained on topics to include identifying the components of social and emotional learning; understanding the role of social and emotional learning in an integrated, developmentally appropriate early education program; aligning learning goals and standards; understanding early childhood and primary curriculum; and understanding strategies to address screening and assessment.

The training also aims to help early childhood educators establish learning environments that are focused on social and emotional learning, which will in turn help students achieve long-term success in school, work, and society. The training also provides insight on how educators play a key role in helping children establish lifelong skills, achieve meaningful goals, have satisfying relationships and lead fulfilling lives.

For more information, please contact School Program Consultant Eloise R. Sanchez at 300-1388.

January 17, 2020

GDOE WELCOMES NEW FINANCE DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT

The Superintendent of Education would like to welcome the Guam Department of Education’s new Deputy Superintendent of Finance and Administrative Services, Dr. Zenaida Asuncion.

Effective Tuesday, January 21, 2020, Dr. Asuncion will officially take the helm of the finance and administration of the largest government of Guam agency.

Dr. Asuncion has over 20 years of progressive experience in various managerial and consulting capacities within the Federal, State, and local government, to include performing Federal financial and compliance audits in sectors including health care, water, power, higher education, and pension plans.

Dr. Asuncion has served as an audit manager/consultant with Deloitte in Guam and Micronesia for the past 8 years, having previously served as the Chief Auditor of the Office of Public Accountability, and most recently as the Comptroller of the University of Guam (UOG). She also serves as a continuing UOG Adjunct Faculty for International Accounting, Professional Ethics, Auditing Theory, is a guest lecturer for Governance and Policies in the UOG School of Business, and is a resource instructor for the CPA Examination Review Course for Auditing and Business Economic Concepts.

Her professional designations include Certified Public Accountant, State of California; Certified Public Accountant, Guam; Certified Governmental Financial Manager; Certified Forensic Accountant; Certified Fraud Examiner; Accredited Investment Fiduciary; Master in Business Administration, University of Guam; and PhD, University of Alaska, Fairbanks (Inter-disciplinary Studies on Culture, Leadership and Accountability).

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Asuncion to the GDOE leadership team,” Superintendent Jon Fernandez said. “We are confident that that her progressive experience will help to guide the department forward as it works to continually improve and address challenges in areas including the budget and the department’s efforts to remove special conditions associated with high risk. We would like to wish her a warm welcome to the team on behalf of everyone at the Guam Department of Education.”

January 16, 2020

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY HOLIDAY REMINDER

The Guam Department of Education would like to remind stakeholders of the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. holiday schedule:

·         Monday, January 20, 2020 is the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. There will be no classes and the GDOE headquarters in Tiyan will be closed.

January 16, 2020

TEXAS COMPUTER EDUCATION ASSOCIATION ROBOTICS CONTEST

The Guam Department of Education College Pathway Project science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program in partnership with Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) will host the second annual TCEA Robotics Contest this weekend.

A total of 33 intermediate, 17 advance arena, and 11 advanced invention teams will compete, comprising of over 400 elementary, middle and high school students. The contest takes place this Saturday, January 18, 2020 at 8 a.m. at the Dusit Thani Guam Resort.

Robotics provides an incredible outlet for students to work on hands-on, collaborative STEM projects. In both the area and state TCEA competitions, students have the opportunity to design, collaborate, construct, and compete using their analytical, creative and communication skills. 

There are two distinct categories in the TCEA Robotics Contest. The arena competition is a prescribed problem contest where students program robots to accomplish a list of specific tasks. Arena teams build a robot using a specific set of motors, sensors and LEGO-branded elements. A team’s robot must perform specific tasks on the challenge field in three two-minute rounds.

The inventions competition is open-ended, and allows students to choose a real-world problem and create a robotic solution. Teams are allowed a total retail value of $5 to incorporate non-electrical, non-LEGO parts to enhance functionality or for decoration.  

“This is the second TCEA robotics contest we are bringing to our school system, and we are very excited to see the growing number of participants,” College Pathway Project Lead and TCEA Competition Area Director Leah Beth Naholowaa said. “We want to ignite a passion for robotics within our students and prepare them to embrace the growing number of STEM employment opportunities in the labor market, where the number of STEM jobs continues to grow.”

The College Pathway Project is administered by the GDOE Federal Programs Division and funded by the U.S. Department of Education Consolidated Grant to the Outlying Areas.

For more information, please contact Leah Beth Naholowaa at lonaholowaa@gdoe.net or 300-1252.

January 16, 2020

GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION (GATE) MATH MEET COMPETITION

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Project will host the 2020 Math Meet on Friday, January 24, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. at the GDOE Tiyan headquarters Building B 1^st floor conference room.

The Math Meet will feature a combination of 4^th and 5^th grade GATE students who have been chosen to represent their schools and respective GATE programs. The Math Meet caters to upper level GATE students from all 25 elementary schools and is led through the instruction of Ms. Lesley Gomez. The competition aims to reinforce and strengthen participants’ math skills in areas including problem solving and critical thinking. The top three students who place in this year’s competition will be recognized at the GATE Special Events Ceremony in May.

For more information about the Math Meet and the GATE Project, call the GATE office at 300-3687/1247 or visit http://sites.google.com/gdoe.net/guam-gate.

The GATE Project is administered by the GDOE Federal Programs Division and funded by the U.S. Department of Education Consolidated Grant to the Outlying Areas. 

January 13, 2020

GDOE ELEMENTARY PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) will be having Parent-Teacher Conferences (PTC) for all elementary and Head Start classes on Tuesday, January 14, 2020.

There will be no classes for elementary schools due to the PTC schedule.

The conferences provide a unique opportunity for parents and teachers to meet and discuss how best to meet the educational needs of students. This is the last PTC opportunity for families of elementary school students this year, so parents and guardians are encouraged to take the time to meet with their child’s teacher.

For more information, please contact your child’s school directly.

January 3, 2020

GNOC PARTNERS WITH INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORTS ASSOCIATION

The Guam National Olympic Committee (GNOC) will be providing program support to the Interscholastic Sports Association (ISA) this spring. On Friday, January 3, 2020, GNOC President Ricardo C. Blas signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining this support with Guam Department of Education (GDOE) Superintendent Jon Fernandez and Interscholastic Sports Association Acting Program Coordinator Al Garrido. 

The collaboration between GNOC and ISA is set to launch in mid-January, when the GNOC Medical and Anti-Doping Commission will facilitate an athlete awareness program entitled “Developing a healthy understanding of a balanced student-athlete’s lifestyle” to middle and high school coaches, athletic directors and administrators participating in ISA third and fourth quarter sports. The training will cover topics including concussions, ACL injury prevention, youth athletic development, load management, hydration, nutrition, first aid and anti-doping. The training program is provided by GNOC through the Olympic Solidarity’s Protection of Clean Athletes Grant, and will take place on January 18, 2020 at the GDOE Tiyan headquarters from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Following this training, the GNOC will work with ISA to schedule similar in-class presentations with high school student athletes participating in sports throughout the remainder of School Year (SY) 2019-2020. Middle school presentations will also be scheduled to take place in SY 2020-2021. Meanwhile, the GNOC will provide training to coaches in February through the Oceania Sport Education Program Development Coach Curriculum. In September, the GNOC will also provide coaches with training on strength and conditioning development.  

“Through this partnership, the GDOE hopes to provide an athlete-centered sports curriculum that will teach students to be more aware of their health needs, reduce the chances for injury, and that will ultimately assist students with their growth, both in sports and in life,” Garrido said.