Santa Barbara Mayor Presents Environmental Youth Awards
Support young environmentalists on their quest to make the ocean a cleaner place by attending the Environmental Youth Awards Ceremony on Saturday, April 16th, 11:30 am to 12:00 pm on the Kids Corner Stage at the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival in Alameda Park. Mayor Helene Schneider will present awards to the students and teachers who participated in the 2016 FTO program.
Flows To The Ocean is a yearlong program that educates students about how litter makes its way to the ocean and the impact it has on marine life once there. Since an estimated 80-85% of marine debris comes from the land, Explore Ecology’s environmental educators empower FTO students to know how their actions on land can positively or negatively affect our waterways.
Each class that participates in FTO chooses a project that focuses on reducing marine debris by teaching others how to replace disposable plastic products with durable items. These projects educate and encourage others in the school and broader community to substitute durable products for disposable plastic, Styrofoam products, and packaging that make up a large percentage of marine debris that is washed into the ocean from storm drains and creeks.
Past student projects include replacing a school’s Styrofoam lunch trays with washable trays, student-created books that are read to younger grades, and influencing a restaurant located close to a popular beach to stop handing out free mints enclosed in plastic wrappers.Last year, Franklin School teachers guided a student project to reduce the use of disposable plastic cups at their school. They were shocked to learn that over 1,000 cups were used and disposed of every day! As their year-end project,the students raised money to purchase a dishwasher and durable cups for the cafeteria, eventually replacing 180,000 plastic cups with reusable ones.
Stop by the Environmental Youth Awards on Saturday, April 16, 11:30 to 12:00 pm at the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival to get inspired and learn about the Flows to the Ocean 2016 Projects!
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