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A lot of things changed over the course of the past year and a lot of people were forced to transition to a new way of doing things. Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education’s Kids Ocean Day celebration, of which LA Sanitation and Environment is an annual sponsor, was no exception. The annual in-person event was forced online this year, but the pivot provided an opportunity for school children across California to send a unified message about protecting our ocean.
Under normal circumstances, Kids Day Ocean Coordinators from five cities up and down the coast would conduct classroom presentations and host a beach cleanup event. The entire program would culminate with students creating aerial art displays on a local beach that would urge the public to join the effort to keep our beaches clean. Here in LA, our annual Kids Ocean Day celebration takes place at Dockweiler Beach.
But these weren’t normal circumstances, so the program had to find another way to engage students and the public alike on ocean protection. Following the general trend of moving online, the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education, in partnership with LA Sanitation and Environment, developed online classroom presentations and moved from in-person assemblies to the virtual realm. Then, rather than holding a final Kids Ocean Day event on the beach, students were asked to submit a creative piece of art that showed their appreciation for our ocean. All of the submissions were added to one collective mural of the winning submission.
We want to send a huge congratulations to all participants, including the three finalists, Tracy N. from Garden Grove, Liana S. from McKinleyville, and Sophia M. from Tarzana. It was an incredible showing with over 4,500 students learning about how they can help save our ocean. This event was a huge success and the public engagement was impressive with some fantastic coverage by local sources such as KABC, The Orange County Register, and KIIS 102.7.
A special thanks to everyone who was involved in this event! If you have any questions about the Kids Ocean Day event, then please feel free to contact us at lastormwater@lacity.org.
