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ASPIRE 2012

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Written by: Bernard Punzalan

Published: 30 September 2012

ASPIRE - Annual Summit for Pacific Islanders Resources & Education

Pacific Islanders (PIs) are the fastest-growing demographic in Washington
 State. The initial data on achievement gaps indicate a need for a more focused approach in addressing the educational disparities within the PI community. Scholars have called for a disaggregation of Asian and Pacific Islander data in order to better understand and highlight previously obscured, yet critical, issues affecting the PI community, and PIs are mobilizing for policy changes to address these needs.

As part of the Chamorro Community of Washington State, several responded to the call:

Sheryl A. Gogo Gutierrez Day, Chamorro, born and raised in Guam, is a PhD Candidate in Information Science at the University of Washington Information School. Sheryl was a Co-Chair of the ASPIRE planning committed and very instrumental in gathering Chamorro together as presenters and attendees. She also facilitated the panel session “Parent/Student – STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math): Career Opportunities, Apprenticeships, Teaching.

Sheryl’s research interests are in technology, cultural knowledge, and information policy. She has a BFA in painting, an ATA in Computer Information Systems, and a MS in Information Management. She
is also an officer in the UW Native Organization of Indigenous Scholars (NOIS) and a member of the UW Indigenous Information Research Group. Prior to entering her PhD program, Sheryl worked 9 years for NOAA at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center as an Information Architect managing and developing databases, websites, GIS maps, graphics, and programming automation scripts. She is a board member on Karate-Ka Advanced Training Association Fund (KATA Fund), a nonprofit that raises funds to assist individuals in studying the art of traditional karate. She and her husband, Matt, own and operate the Washington Karate in Seattle.

Vicente M. Diaz, Associate Professor, American Indian Studies and Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He was the Keynote Speaker of the summit.

Vicente M. Diaz is Pohnpeian and Filipino who was born and raised in Guam. He is Associate Professor of American Indian Studies and Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since January 2012. Before that, Diaz helped build Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Michigan from 2001 to 2011, and taught Pacific History and Micronesian Studies at the University of Guam from 1992-2000. Diaz is the former Historian for the Guam Political Status Education Coordinating Commission, which produced indigenous- (Chamorro-) oriented history textbooks for the island’s public school system.

He also served as the Coordinator of the Micronesian Seafaring Society, a regional association of outrigger sailing canoe builders and navigators from across the Micronesian island region, and founded the Guam Traditional Seafarers society under the mentorship of master navigators from Polowat atoll in the Central Carolines. Trained in critical theory and Pacific area studies, Diaz is best known as a founder of Native Pacific cultural and historical studies, an interdisciplinary field forged in relation to cultural work and indigenous movements for decolonization, self-determination, and sovereignty. Among his major publications and productions are Repositioning the Missionary: Rewriting the Histories of Colonialism, Native Catholicism, and Indigeneity in Guam. (University of Hawai’i Press, 2010) and Sacred Vessels: Navigating Tradition and Identity in Micronesia (29 mins video recording, 1997). He also has published in major national and international journals and anthologies.

His latest research project involves combining Advanced Visualization Technologies (3D, Virtual and Augmented Reality) and traditional voyaging technology and knowledge. Diaz is an elected Council Member of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, and a member of the Editorial Boards of AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples (Nga
Pae o te Maramatanga, Auckland University), the book series Critical Issues in Indigenous Studies, Arizona Press Series, and numerous other journals in Pacific and Asian-Pacific Studies. Diaz is the ninth of ten children of the late Judge Ramon V. Diaz and Josephina Dela Concepcion Diaz from Dededo, Guam. He
is married to Dr. Christine Taitano DeLisle of Yigo, Guam, and they have three daughters and one granddaughter.

Lourdes Rivera Gutierrez is a Chamorro from the island of Guam, U.S.A. Lourdes was one of the presenters for the panel session “Parent/Student – STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math): Career Opportunities, Apprenticeships, Teaching.

Lourdes currently teaches mathematics at Edmonds Community College and Shoreline Community College. She received her B.A. in Mathematics and Secondary Education from the University of Guam and her M.S. in Mathematical Sciences from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Prior to teaching in Washington state, she taught for the Upward Bound Program at the University of Guam, served as a judge for the National Forensic League (high school speech and debate) competitions, was a high school Mock Trial Team coach, entertained as a professional hula dancer, and even held the title of Miss Guam Universe 1999. Known as “Professor G” by her students, Lourdes makes a conscious effort to integrate mathematically-relevant aspects of Pacific Islander culture into her math lectures so that students can get a broader perspective of the world. She believes that it is important for Pacific Islander youth to see representations of themselves and their cultures in faculty members at institutes of higher education. It is her hope that Pacific Islander students overcome the apparent achievement/opportunity gaps and become great community leaders.

Bernard T. Punzalan, founder and principal collaborator
of the Chamorro Roots Genealogy Project. Bernard was a presenter for the panel session, “Parent Support – Culturally-Relavent Support," and presented the Project's relavence and importance to cultural identity.

Bernard is the fourth of eight children born to Eustaquio Anderson Punzalan (Familian Che’/Pansi) and Rosita Leon Guerrero Cruz (Familian Matias/Jai/Mafongfong) of Tamuning. Bernard, his wife, the former Josephine Marie Guerrero Manibusan (Familian Robat/Le’le) reside in Spanaway, WA.

He was one of the first and youngest members of the 1st and 2nd Guam Youth Congress, representing Tamuning and graduated Magna Cum Laude from University of Guam with a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and a Masters in Public Administration from Bellevue University, NE.

He has served over 20 years in the US Army Reserves, US Army Active Duty, and Guam Army National Guard and worked at the Guam Historic Preservation Office (where his genealogy interest began) and Guam Economic Development Authority. Bernard served as a Grants and Contracts Manager with The Geneva Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes the advancement of military medicine through R&D. He worked in the Department of the Army as a Grants Manager at the Madigan Healthcare System, Joint Base Lewis-McChord.He currently manages medical research grants and Cooperative R&D Agreements for the Army’s Western Regional Medical Command.

He is also a contributing author to Guampedia.com, a comprehensive online encyclopedic resource about the history, culture and contemporary issues of Guam.

Napun Tasi performed during the luncheon.

“You can take us off the island, but you can’t take the island out of us.” The band Napun Tasi brings their Island roots and culture to the mainland through music. The Chamorro words Napun Tasi translate to ocean currents or ocean waves. Like the movement of the ocean, the band’s goal is to take its listeners to different places and different times, musically. Its members are seasoned musicians from the Island of Guam. Each member has diverse musical influences but the one common bond that binds them together are the island songs they have heard and have admired when they were children. Formed in the Pacific Northwest in 2007, Napun Tasi covers timeless Island favorites but with a modern twist. They also bring goodtimes with their Rock, Pop, Reggae selections and originals. For 5 years, Napun Tasi has played local venues as well as big stages. If you are looking to add Island to your party, look no further and look up Napun Tasi for any occasion. Napun Tasi is Chris Smith, Gavin Dalisay, Richard Dadufalza, Doug and Crystal Taitague, and Jody Benevente.