Home

As the only United States territory in the South Pacific Ocean, and located 10,000 miles from the U.S. mainland, American Samoa struggles to meet U.S. Academic standards. Given its remote location, American Samoa’s only accredited college, American Samoa Community College (ASCC) continues to experience a widespread and critical need to increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education.

The American Samoa Technician Education Readiness Pathway (ASTERP) project will address the challenge in low academic performance in math, reading and writing. ASTERP will adapt and implement the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Guitar Building curriculum to be more engaging in how educators teach applied mathematics, reading and writing through project-based learning activities. Building on a strong cultural connection that music plays in our everyday life (school, community, church and culture), the process of building a guitar will be the motivating force for teachers. It will allow students to be taught applied math, reading and writing with more excitement while learning, and seeing the relevance and application of these competencies. Both teachers and students will gain the abilities most needed in our educational system as the majority of the population speak English as a second language. The guitar building program will make a strong impact as music is a huge part of our culture and the interest of the project in itself will be the motivator to learn.