Grace Sustainable Community

Mission: G.R.A.C.E. is a student organization taking responsibility to promote Greater Resource Awareness through Communication & Education. G.R.A.C.E. is currently 188 youth members; (85) YHS alumni, 2014-15 and (103) students currently enrolled in Environmental Science at Yap High School and expected to graduate 2015-16. Students are all introduced to Permaculture Principles of design through a variety of rigorous integrated projects including site mapping, socio economic survey and complex statistical analysis. G.R.A.C.E. students understand their dynamic role on the ecosystem and confirm this by pledging to make improvements on their home sites to decrease their negative environmental impact, as formulated in class. As part of their G.R.A.C.E. efforts student members are soliciting contracts from local agencies and community members for site repair projects, biodiversity surveys and rejuvenation projects such as sea wall, stone path and taro patch regeneration. These students are also making strides to get involved in the state and national policies that effect sensitive environmental issues facing us today. November 5, 2015 10 students witnessed at a public hearing on Fruit Bat Conservation in an attempt to make all of Yap a sanctuary. In response to this experience, G.R.A.C.E. will make strides to promote the goals under the Micronesia Challenge of protecting 20% of terrestrial resources by spreading awareness in our communities. Recognizing that bats play a keystone role as pollinators and seed dispersers in local forest ecosystems, GSC has dedicated more than 250 acres of combined lands to be used as a Sanctuary for Biodiversity rehabilitation, Conservation and Preservation of the Native Terrestrial Forest, which will be surveyed, logged and replanted by G.R.A.C.E. students as community service obligation. These students are representative of the whole island since Yap High School is the only state public high school, every municipality and most villages, including outer and neighboring islanders are represented by G.R.A.C.E. For this reason we have a greater ability to get environmental awareness and local issues to be heard in the community from the voice of the youth.

From www.ic.org/directory/grace-sustainable-community/: