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For seventeen years, outstanding students from the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Federated States of Micronesia have participated in the Summer Schools Program.
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1991 Year The Junior Statesmen Foundation started the Territory Program. | The Territory Program was launched in 1991 through the partnership between the Foundation and the U.S. Department of Interior. Both parties (namely Karen & Richard Prosser of JSF and Stella Guerra, the Asst. Secretary of the DOI’s Office of Insular Affairs) shared the same vision: to provide educational and leadership opportunities for youth from the U.S. Territories.
With this partnership in place, the Foundation began recruiting students from the islands to participate in its Summer Schools. The much needed boost came from the Department of Interior grants, which provided full tuition and transportation scholarships.
Each year, the DOI provides 3 full scholarships for each of the insular areas.
Like most things, participation from territory students started out really small. In 1991, we had a total of eleven students attend Summer School – eight students were from the U.S. Virgin Islands and three were from American Samoa. Over the years, the Summer Schools have gained popularity and much attention, which has been reflected in the numbers of attendees. Last year, eighty-two students attended Summer School.
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1,556 Number of U.S. Territories students who have come to Summer School since the program began. | To date, 1,556 students from the territories have participated in the Summer School Program. Of this figure, 234 outstanding students received the full Department of Interior scholarships!
This clearly shows that the Territory Program is expanding and has been extremely productive. We also
have various JSA chapters in the different islands and hope to start new chapters this year. The most active chapter so far has been the Virgin Islands Community Chapter, which is comprised of student leaders from the different high schools on St. Thomas and St. Croix. The VI Coordinators, Marc Stridiron and Earnest Morris, Jr. have done a remarkable job exposing the youth to the Year-Round and Summer School Programs!
We can most definitely expect to see more growth and involvement from the territory students. Kudos to the Prossers and the past and present Territory Coordinators for all their dedication and hard work, which have made the Territory Program what it is today!
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