Announcing Our Environmental Stewardship Award Winners!
We’re so excited to honor the 2018 Explore Ecology Environmental Stewardship Award Winners! These inspiring environmental stewards were nominated by community members who believe that these unsung heroes of Santa Barbara County should be recognized for their efforts to create a more sustainable and healthy world.
The winners of the 2018 Explore Ecology Environmental Stewardship Awards are:
Gabriel Ramirez and Pyp Pratt: Students K to 6th Grade
Sarah Dent and Josh Benson: Students 7th to 12th Grade
Jill Means and Jose Caballero: Teacher Awards
Adams School Ocean Guardians Ambassadors: Class Award
Please join us at the Awards Ceremony at the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 21 at 12:45 pm at on the stage in the Kids’ Corner. Recipients will be honored and give acceptance speeches on the Kids’ Stage and at 2:00 pm will join CEC’s Environmental Heroes on the Main Stage where Congressman Salud Carbajal and singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins will recognize this wonderful group of environmental stewards.
Here are some of their stories.
At lunch Gabriel Ramirez, a 3rd grader at La Patera Elementary School, puts on a bright yellow vest and takes action. Wheeling out a Compost Cart, Gabe collects food waste and teaches his friends how to compost.
Gabriel is part of the Compost Squad and according to Explore Ecology Garden Educator Bennett Rock, Gabriel is a composting champion. Bennett, who works with Gabriel in the La Patera School Garden, says that he has “shown commitment and passion to the school garden and composting program. Gabriel gets the job done and trains other students on how to collect scraps and promote waste reduction. On weekends, he rides his bike to pick up trash from the beach.”
If you’ve attended an Explore Ecology Beach Cleanup, you may have noticed Pyp Pratt, a 4th grader at Marymount, who is often found collecting marine debris from inaccessible places and dragging large pieces of debris that he can’t carry down the beach. If Pyp is there, the cleanup is going to be a success. Inspired by his own experiences at the beach, Pyp did a PowerPoint presentation at his school on the importance of beach cleanups and has spoken to neighbors, family, and other adults about why we should keep our coastline clean.
Sarah Dent was nominated by her friend Hattie Ugoretz who says, “Each day, Sarah goes out of her way to do something to help the environment and encourages others to join her and do the same.” At the beginning of the year, Sarah noticed neglected planting boxes at school. She repaired them, purchased tools and plants, and transformed them into a beautiful flower bed. Sarah also created and leads a Garden Club at Goleta Valley Junior High.
Josh Benson has been an environmental steward his whole life. The founder and leader of Tomorrows Green, a youth-orientated environmental organization that promotes, organizes, and implements environmental activities such as beach cleanups, Josh is also a Beach Captain at East Beach for Coastal Cleanup Day. Josh is an active participant in the YMCA’s Youth and Government program where he is developing his environmental advocacy skills. Josh successfully presented a water quality bill in the State Capitol that was passed and signed by the Governor.
Jill Means is a 3rd Grade at Ellwood Elementary and a big believer in teaching sustainability every day. Jill holds a recycling drive with help from her team of teachers to raise money for her school, has a worm bin in her class, and creates ways to make her classroom (and school) a greener place. Jill is also raising money to get more recycling bins for the playground, so students have a choice about where their trash goes.
Jose Caballero inspires hundreds of students at Santa Barbara High School to care for the environment and know they can make a positive difference. Jose teaches AP Environmental Science and Small Scale Food Production and received many nominations from his students, including one who said, “Jose is the most passionate and inspiring teacher I’ve ever had. I’ve learned more about our planet and life in general in his class than in my entire educational experience up to this point. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award.”
(Jose Caballero & Family- Photo by Michael Woodlee)
(Jose Caballero & Family- Photo by Michael Woodlee)Ocean Guardian Ambassadors is an after-school program at Adams Elementary School for 3rd to 6th grade students who meet to learn more about plastic pollution, conservation, and how to be effective ocean stewards. The Ocean Guardian Ambassadors share their knowledge with their classmates and are advocates for reducing plastic waste on campus and in the community. These motivated students are also working with the Community Environmental Council and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper on the Skip the Straw SB campaign in the City of Santa Barbara. The Ocean Guardian Ambassadors program is run by Claire Fackler, John Peltz, and Allison Bell.
See you on Saturday, April 21st at 12:45 at the Kids’ Corner Stage!
Josh was born and raised in Santa Barbara, where his passion and curiosity for the environment began and has continued to grow. During his undergraduate studies, Josh pursued this interest at the University of California at Santa Cruz, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Dodos developed her passion for creative reuse as a mother of four and elementary educator over the past 25 years. She loves to inspire creativity by connecting people with resources and ideas.
Veronica grew up in San Diego and spent four years in San Luis Obispo studying Animal Science at Cal Poly. As an undergrad she learned lots about livestock, agriculture, and wildlife.
Stephanie began her journey as an educator over twenty years ago working as a preschool teacher in Washington state for a cooperative preschool program affiliated with Whatcom Community College. She loved observing the wonder and curiosity of the children and bringing them out into nature to explore the natural world. She continued her love for learning and got her teaching license and then her Montessori certification and worked as an elementary teacher in Tribal, Public, and Montessori schools. She collaborated to create a school garden and her students loved it so much that it became a special place where they could garden, read, explore, play, and it provided a safe sanctuary for students to calm down and reset when they were having difficult moments.
Morgan’s mermaid soul is always seeking adventure—swimming a relay across the Santa Barbara Channel and taking the first photo of a newborn orca off Anacapa Island being standout experiences close to home.
Lindsay Johnson
