This year, Mount Carmel School was selected by the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence to host the proclamation signing for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
In the CNMI, Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month is celebrated during the month of February. The event is meant to engage with students in the middle school and high school students about healthy versus unhealthy relationships.
During the event, Mount Carmel School had multiple student performances focused on understanding what teen dating violence is and how to seek support. Students recited original poems, performed two musical numbers, and gave a theatrical reading with information about teen dating violence. For inspirational remarks, Mount Carmel School invited Ms. Malyssa Castro, a survivor of teen dating violence who has shared her personal experience and how she persevered through that time of her life.
Representing the Office of the Governor was CNMI Lieutenant Governor, and MCS AlumKnight, Arnold Palacios. After the proclamation was signed, lieutenant governor Palacios shared, “I want to thank the school administrators and students for bringing this issue up to the floor for discussions because only through discussing issues and challenges can we begin to let members of our community know that there is a problem that needs to be fixed and there are issues that we need to continuously bring to the forefront of our teenagers.” He later continued, “I want to thank all the involved organizations for working to address this issue in our community.”
Mount Carmel School STUCO President Maria Ayuyu shared, “My fellow student officers and I agree that it was a very humbling experience to bring this program together for our community. We would like to thank the Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence for giving us this opportunity to raise awareness among our peers and empowering us to organize this event to be a part of the effort to end teen dating violence.”
School president Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero shared, “I’m very proud of our students for organizing this year’s Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month proclamation signing. I would also like to thank Ms. Malyssa Castro for sharing her story with our community. What her personal narrative gave us was an understanding about how complex abusive relationships can be and how to come out stronger through that adversity.
To watch the live stream of the proclamation signing, visit Mount Carmel School’s Facebook page (@mtcarmelcnmi) or Mount Carmel School’s YouTube channel ( Mount Carmel School).
