The outreach and education component of this years reef restoration project came to a close this past week after the chapter held its final pizza party for the class that recycled the most in their school-wide recycling program. The two schools that participated in the chapter's outreach and education program associated with this project were MAS Integrated School in Anasco and Jorge Seda Crespo in Rincon. Recycling totals for the two schools can be seen by clicking here. The outreach and education program began when students were exposed to the growing problem of marine debris in the ocean through educational and interactive presentations given by the chapter beginning back in October. Then, the chapter invested $1,000 in each school's recycling program (with funding from NOAA) in the form of recycling bins, purchased from AMEC PR, to be used in the schools. Prior to beginning the recycling programs in January, the students painted the containers with sea creatures that are threatened by marine debris to remind the students why it is important to recycle. After those events, the chapter coordinated the pickup of the materials on a weekly basis with each schools municipality, and just to change things up, the chapter had each school compete between homerooms to see which class could not only recycle the most but also record how much they recycled. As an incentive for their efforts, the chapter reached out to companies in the surf industry such as Rip Curl, Roxy, FCS, and Nixon, to get prizes for the class(es)/individuals that excelled in the program, recycled the most, and recorded accurate data. These companies fully supported our goal of stimulating an inner conservation ethic amongst the students and were happy to reward them for their efforts with their great products.
The chapter is very pleased to report that the programs were a great success and we hope to implement more programs like these in other schools along the west coast and around Puerto Rico. Below are photos from the pizza parties held for each winning class during the last two weeks of the semester. The chapter would like to thank each school for their participation in this outreach and education program, Rip Curl, Roxy, FCS, Nixon, Oneway boardshop, and volunteers that contributed their time to help make the educational component for this year's marine debris removal and prevention program a great success. Thanks!
If your school is interested in participating in this type of program for the academic year of 2012/2013 please contact the chapter at salvatrespalmas@yahoo.com
Contact Wessley Merten at 787-436-8300 or wessley.merten@upr.edu for more information on helping out in this coral reef restoration and marine debris removal effort.
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