-To provide help to families with a child who has autism.
-To help parents who have a child they think may be autistic and want information & help for their child.
If you and your child would like help, contact Akoyikoyi School.
We are immensely fortunate that Akoyikoyi School has such kind donors, as the LDS Church. Since 2013, they have provided the school with amazing benefits! Bill Davis and other LDS Church members finally arrived today and were able to turn over these priceless contributions. As tradition, Akoyikoyi school greets them with music and dances, ‘Kinisou’ letters, luscious coconuts, and handcrafted mwaramwars, as a token of their appreciation! Because of your generosity, Akoyikoyi students are able to pursue their big dreams! Kinisou Chapur pwan Kinisou Chok!
Please click here to read information about COVID19: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSVej5QP1ZLRk5Z0VAx4FXsDkBmi1Ejb19aaQQSjpqyNXeSdbKIZgdGzYulxuAfjoI3XUyyKy0TCODb/pub
Please click here to read more information about the COVID19 vaccine: https://hawaiicovid19.com/…/…/02/VaccineInfoBrochure_CHK.pdf
It began with a search on Etsy. Akoyikoyi School, a tuition-free primary school located on the island of Weno in the Federated States of Micronesia, was preparing for COVID19 and searching for materials to promote health and awareness. The most critical items still needed were masks. The director and staff recognized how crucial masks can be and so they began looking for masks on Etsy. After numerous searches and a lot of contemplation, the staff decided to wait on a purchase.
However, in that moment of waiting, came the most surprising and beautiful message, “My name is Jana Yan and I am a senior at Northwest High School in Oak Ridge, NC. Belle and I have been running this non-profit in order to donate masks to others. We would like to reach out to donate fabric masks and school supplies to Akoyikoyi School.”
With little knowledge of each other, a stranger’s kindness became one of the most generous and humble donations that the school has received. Akoyikoyi’s foundation is built off of goodness- her founder, the late Keitani Graham, was and is a model for all of Micronesia. His dedication and love for youth created Akoyikoyi and his legacy continues today.
Jana said that she, “initially reached out again after reading about the history and mission of improving the lives of the Chuukese youth.” She “was moved by the volunteers and teachers working to make a difference in the lives of the children of Chuuk, [those who] have dedicated their lives to helping children achieve the necessary education to be accepted into secondary education. There was not a doubt that if…[she] could help (even if it was just a little) that…[she] would.”
Jana is not just a hero to Akoyikoyi, but to thousands of people and multiple communities. She told us that she, “started StitchbyJ with the philosophy of donating masks dedicated to helping in-need or at-risk communities in North Carolina. Through this, [she] started a student-led initiative called the Guilford Mask Project. [She] was able to coordinate educational programs to educate students on the importance of PPE and precautionary safety measures that should be taken. Over the past few months, she has distributed over 6,800 free reusable masks to hospitals, non-profits, and shelters.”
The staff of Akoyikoyi, which is now spread in three locations due to the pandemic, sincerely thanks Jana. Fokkun kinisou chapur Jana, thank you very much Jana, your gift will always be remembered.
More about the Guilford Mask Project and how to support the incredible work that Jana continues can be found on their website, Facebook page, and Instagram linked below.
http://guilfordmaskproject.org/
https://www.facebook.com/guilfordmaskproject
https://www.instagram.com/guilfordmaskproject/
Ran annim meinisin! We should all wear masks, especially to protect the people around us. Here is one way to make a mask in just 10 steps!
A COUPLE OF TIPS ABOUT YOUR NEW MASK:
To see a video of how to make this mask, please visit Akoyikoyi on YouTube:
Happy Earth Day! Today is a special day when we should celebrate the Earth. Remember that we should take care of the Earth today AND every day! To celebrate, my family and I planted vegetable seeds in our garden today.
I challenge each of you to do something to help the Earth. Pick up garbage, plant seeds, recycle plastic bottles, or reuse a plastic bag. There are so many ways that we can help our Earth become more beautiful. If we each do one thing every day to help keep nature clean, our Earth will look incredibly different.
Below are some instructions on how you can plant seeds:
1) First, gather your materials. You may need: hands, a stick, a shovel, seeds (you can get them from a real vegetable), dirt, sunshine, water, and time.
2) Then, you can read the back of the seed instructions (or take a good guess) to find out how deep you need to dig a row or a hole for your seeds. Here, we used a stick and some shovels to make our rows.
3) Again, (following the instructions or by guessing) place the seeds inside of the hole/row.
4) Cover up the seeds with extra dirt.
5) Make sure to water your seeds at least every other day. Being too dry is a problem for them. They also need sunshine to grow, so make sure they are not covered by too much shade.
Extra step- my mom and I made sticks with little names on them to remember which seeds were in each row.
Now, we wait! We will carefully water our seeds, let the sun do its work, and wait patiently for our vegetable plants to grow!
For more information about Earth Day, please visit: https://www.earthday.org/
In early March, Akoyikoyi students learned more about healthy habits and focused on one of the most essential- which is washing your hands. After watching videos and reading information about hand washing, the students created posters, signs, and a skit about the importance of hand washing.
As the CDC reminds, “hands should be washed often.” Akoyikoyi students learned that there are many times both before and after doing everyday activities that people should wash their hands. For example, people should wash their hands:
BEFORE:
-Eating, working with food, caring for sick people, and treating a wound.
AFTER:
–Preparing food, using the bathroom, changing diapers, blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, touching animals or animal food, and touching garbage.
The CDC also taught Akoyikoyi students that when handwashing, there are five important steps to follow. These include:
1) Wetting your hands with CLEAN RUNNING water
2) Lathering your hands with soap (the fronts, backs, in between fingers, and under fingernails
3) Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds, this means you need to sing the “birthday song” at least two times!
4) Rinse your hands well under CLEAN RUNNING water
5) Dry your hands using a CLEAN towel or air dry them
The above information is from the CDC website. For this information, and more information on hand washing and staying healthy, please visit the CDC website at: https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html
Akoyikoyi students displayed much learning and growth in these “healthy habit” activities. The importance of hand washing, cleaning, and taking measures to keep oneself and others healthy was emphasized in these activities.
Akoyikoyi is proud of its students for taking the initiative to help themselves and others learn more about how to stay healthy. From our students and staff to the world, we wish to send out this awareness of healthy habits as well as extend our wishes for the family of the world to stay healthy and happy in these unique times.
-In these months-
Life is mosquito attacked legs and aloe vera
Life is left-over oil drenched donuts dipped in ice cream for breakfast
Life is high school campus puppies’ hellos and goodbyes
Life is a fixed phone and deep conversations into the morning
Life is teachers transitioning in and out
Life is harmonized mass songs that stick
Life is rainy days, rainy nights, fresh air, gray skies, gray ocean,
Life is brilliantly quiet classes,
Life is tin roof din and student races,
Life is shared pork, rice, and lumpia,
Life is quiet noise, rooster mornings, steamy sunshine rising
To the teachers of the world:
My skin is covered in dried sweat, chalk dust covers my shoulders, and the bun in my hair is falling out. The heels of my feet are covered in dirt and my arms have a strange sticky substance on them. I have just returned from school. Each day is a unique adventure at Akoyikoyi. Usually though, these characteristics or something similar to them remain constant. The days are full of sweat, chalkboard lessons, and moving around constantly. My bare feet are usually a bit black before I leave (for slippers/flip flops are taken off following local custom). At some point too, a student from my class or another has come to rub their nose on me, dry their eyes, or take me by the arm- hence the mysterious stickiness. I do not mind these aspects of my teaching. In fact, teaching would not be as intriguing, and challenging, and beautiful without them. I return every day on a bumpy pothole riddled road, proud of my students. No matter how badly behaved, how energetic, or how silly they were being during the day, I love them and I am proud of them.
Akoyikoyi Teacher
I am the nurse, the art modeler, the dance supervisor. I am the English instructor, the reading professor, the math guide. I am the scientist and the social studies enthusiast. I am the invisible administrator. I am the pencil sharpener, the napkin retriever, the recess monitor. I am the janitor, the librarian, and the tech support. I am a teacher at Akoyikoyi.
Hannah Klein is a Jesuit Volunteer and teaches at the Akoyikoyi School on the island of Weno in Chuuk. Her reflection was inspired by her pwipwi’s (sister’s) writing and her experiences in Chuuk.
Keitani Graham (February 1, 1980 — December 6, 2012): We remember Keitani Graham who was taken from us so tragically and suddenly. We … Read more