Local teachers, educators, counselors, principals, vice-principals and sports coaches are taking part this week in the Fa’a Samoa: Academic and Life Skills Training hosted by the Troy and Theodora Polamalu Foundation. A team from Life Skills 360— headed by Penny Semaia, who is the Academic Director of Troy and Theodora Polamalu’s Fa’a Samoa Camp— is currently on island to conduct three days of training for educators and others at the Pago Plaza.

Semaia is one of the co-founders and partners of Life Skills 360 along with Charles Small. Life Skills 360 works with various individuals, school districts and community groups, with this goal and mission in mind: “How can we help prepare individuals for success today and for success for tomorrow,” said Semaia.

“Last year I attended the Troy and Theodora Polamalu Foundation camp here in American Samoa and I came as part of their Academic and Life Skills team.  I conducted a workshop for the kids on island and from them saw their possibilities and capabilities. We then met with Troy and Theodora and some other individuals, and asked how can we continue to expand the academic and life skills portion of the Fa’a Samoa Camps, and really extend the development of the youth beyond the sport,” said Semaia.

Last year Troy Polamalu brought a contingent of more that 80 people, including current and former NFL players of Samoan descent, coaches and spouses to American Samoa for high school football and volleyball camps. The Polamalu group was first brought to the territory in 2011 and then again last year. The volleyball camps ran at the same time as the football camps under the Polamalu Foundation umbrella.

According to the Troy and Theodora Polamalu Foundation, they utilize the athletic camps to promote athletics, scholarships and healthy living, but for them, the most important part of the Fa’a Samoa Camp is the academic program. With almost an exclusively blue collar demographic in American Samoa and a majority of Samoan people working for people from other regions of the world, the Foundation would like to reach the children and help them increase their expectations for the future— to include obtaining education for positions such as doctors, lawyers, and corporate executives.

THE LIFE SKILLS TEAM

 Life Skills 360 owner Semaia is the Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Pittsburgh, and his partner Charles Small is the Director of Student Athlete Development at the University of Arkansas.

Other members of the team conducting the training are Dr. Gabby Yearwood, a social-cultural anthropologist and professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and Troy Polamalu’s brother Tafea Polamalu, who is a professor of Sociology in Oregon. The team is conducting this training for teachers, coaches and school officials, as they prepare them for next year’s Troy and Theodora’s Fa’a Samoa camp (2015).

The first day of the recent training was for educators from grades 1 through 5, while yesterday's training focused on teachers for grades 6 to 8. This morning’s training will be for educators from grades 9 through 12 beginning at 8:30 a.m.