Gerard van Gils: MYPros executive director
Marianas Variety
Author: Naomi Vazquez
THE 2017 Northern Mariana Islands Teacher of The Year, Gerard van Gils, has resigned from the Public School System to pursue his role as executive director of the Marianas Young Professionals.
Van Gils has taught at Kagman High School for five years, and during his time as a teacher, he founded the Million Dollar Scholars — an organization that prepares high school students to attend, stay at and finish college on the continent.
“I started meeting a need of my students to prepare them for college, and now those students are midway through college and preparing to return home to the island,” van Gils said. “I was torn between being a full-time teacher and helping these programs and the kids which I’ve come to love.”
Van Gils said he loved being a teacher because he found his passion in helping his students. He said being a public educator is the noblest profession because teachers make countless sacrifices for their students’ success.
“On my third day of being a public school teacher, a fist-fight broke out in my class and I was so terrified I almost quit my job and walked away,” Van Gils said. “But I came back on the fourth day, even though I was terrified, and that’s what public educators do; they come back when they’re scared, tired and unmotivated, and they try every single day to lift up their students.”
Although his PSS journey has ended, van Gils said he is eager to work with MYPros and to continue helping the youth on Saipan.
“Our goal is to help students become scholars and help scholars attend and finish college and then return to the CNMI to be the professional class that we need,” van Gils said.
Nola Hix, vice president and a founder of MYPros, said she looks forward to working with van Gils and the Million Dollar Scholars.
“This is about young people getting together and inspiring each other,” Hix said. “So having [van Gils] and the Million Dollar Scholars is going to be great.”
Van Gils said: “When I came to Saipan I was a lost person; I didn’t have a profession, I didn’t have any friends and I didn’t know what I was doing on this island in the middle of the ocean. I became an accidental teacher and it led to my love of education and my love of this people and this place…I hope that people always see me as an educator and as an islander because that’s what I’ve become in these last five years.”
Van Gils has been commended by the CNMI Senate, CNMI Gov. Ralph Torres and President Donald Trump for his contributions to education.
MYPros is an educational support, non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in the CNMI. To learn more or become a member, visit mypros670.com.
