Heal the Bay Blog

Filling up blue bins definitely pays off, as more than 100 Glassell Park Elementary fifth graders recently discovered, having recycled their way to the beach and a seaside lunch at Duke’s Malibu.

The students won the Chivas USA Recycling Competition by filling 75 bins with recycling material during a two-week period, beating out Castelar Elementary.

Their recycling efforts also produced more long-term benefits for Glassell Park Elementary, which is near Atwater Village. According to fifth grade teacher Mrs. Shepherd, before the recycling competition the cafeteria staff didn’t recycle items, but they are continuing their efforts to fill up blue bins even now that the contest is complete.

Heal the Bay teamed with Major League Soccer team Chivas USA, the City’s Bureau of Sanitation, and the Aquarium of the Pacific to help get kids aware and excited about recycling. The grand prize was a Heal the Bay “Lunch and Learn” field trip, with the meal sponsored by Duke’s Malibu at its restaurant on PCH.

Heal the Bay provided the buses and the staff who led the students through games and beach activities all designed to teach ocean stewardship. The fifth graders learned how cigarette butts and Styrofoam end up on the beach, how trash harms animals and how they can help keep our local waters healthy and clean.

“This is the best field trip ever!” declared one student as he shook sand from his Van’s topsider. “I didn’t even realize this was the Pacific Ocean until today.”

Lunch afterwards at Duke’s was the icing on the Hula Pie.

Heal the Bay provides beach education through our Lunch and Learn program to 500 Title 1 students per year.

Read more about our science-based education resources.

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At a time when most schools are focused on fundraising to support their own libraries and arts programs, one local school decided to share some of the money their families raised at a beach cleanup event to help further Heal the Bay’s mission.

Mariposa School of Global Education students donated $1,200 (out of more than $12,000 raised) from their 4^th Annual Beach Clean-A-Thon to Heal the Bay. The Beach-Clean-A-Thon is a school-wide event that involves all grades. In April, kindergarten classes cleaned Malibu Lagoon, while other grades cleaned Malibu Creek State Park to learn how the creek flows into the ocean and affects local oceans and beaches.

“We must remember to model community partnerships and philanthropy towards those causes we wish to see furthered,” said Jeff Lough, principal of the Agoura Hills-based school in Las Virgenes Unified School District. “Our donation and partnership with Heal the Bay is an example of our commitment to this idea. Mariposa’s donation will come back to our children tenfold when they grow up and enjoy the coastline that Heal the Bay works so relentlessly to protect.”

When Mariposa sixth graders presented Heal the Bay Coastal Resources Director Sarah Sikich with the check on May 21 at their campus, she reminded the students that their contributions would pay dividends for all beach lovers. “The money you raised will go to keeping wildlife and the ocean healthy and clean,” she said.

Sarah also noted that the students will be supporting Heal the Bay’s beach cleanup programs, as well as our work to bring underserved kids — some of whom have never been to the beach before — to our Aquarium to learn about the ocean and the animals who live in Santa Monica Bay.

Mariposa formed a new partnership with Heal the Bay this year to help support student conservation efforts and as part of the school’s educational components. Students learn responsibility by participating in activities like the Beach Clean-A-Thon, which acts as both a fundraiser and educational event. The remainder of funds raised will go directly to programs, resources and services for Mariposa students.

Fundraising efforts by students included children sponsoring other children, start-up lemonade stands, kids’ video messages filmed at the beach and hand-written letters with ocean-themed art. Donations came in all shapes and sizes, from hand-picked coins from kid’s piggy banks to online donations from out-of-state friends and relatives.

Mariposa’s 2013 Beach Clean-A-Thon will be held near our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium location and will include an educational tour of our marine learning center.

Schedule a cleanup for your school.

Plan a visit or field trip to our Aquarium.

Help us bring our ocean education programs to Los Angeles students.

What better way to kick off a summer spent at the shore than with some family-friendly, crowd-pleasing ocean sport competition?

In the water on June 9, the Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race & Ocean Festival will feature SUP, paddleboard, ocean swim and dory competitions. While up on the pier deck, live music, hula dancing and a surfing, lifeguard and paddleboard museum will be found. The event will run from 8:30 a.m.- 3 p.m.

The paddleboard competition continues a Santa Monica tradition from the 1940s, when two paddleboard clubs were headquartered on the pier.

Heal the Bay will receive a portion of net proceeds from the event, which will directly benefit our marine education facility, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.

Check out the vibe for yourself with this video.

For more information, visit www.pierpaddle.com