By LAURA WITSENHAUSEN Associate Editor As the planes taking off from LAX flew overhead and dolphins swam in view, 3,000 students participated in ocean conservation last Friday, gathering trash at Dockweiler State Beach in Playa del Rey, then forming aerial art with a message to ‘Keep Oceans Alive!’ The mostly elementary-age students were joined by 35 marine biology students from Ray Millette’s class at Palisades Charter High School, who acted as mentors to the youngsters. The teens helped the kids find trash, and also taught them about the effects of pollution on the ocean and its inhabitants. The event was part of the 11th Annual Kids’ Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup along the California coast, commemorating Ocean Day. The Los Angeles clean-up was sponsored by the California Coastal Commission’s Whale Tail License Plate Fund and the City of L. A. Stormwater Program. Participating students at Dockweiler had previously attended a series of assemblies taught by Michael Klubock, executive director and founder of the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education, learning how urban neighborhoods are connected to beaches through storm drains, and the importance of recycling and litter reduction. Teacher Ray Millette has been bringing his students to the event for nearly a decade. ‘Our job is not to just pick up trash, but to act as mentors. To elementary school kids, high school kids are near god. If high school kids tell them ‘good job,’ smiles come out.’ ‘My kids get a lot out of it, they feel empowered,’ said Millette, who also has students who volunteer each month to clean up Will Rogers State Beach. Students from his classes also have volunteered at Ballona Wetlands and done work on UCLA’s research boat. Although Millette says the health of the bay has improved, there are still major problems with pollution coming down storm drains. ‘This event makes a difference in the mindset of kids, and with that we’ll make a difference overall.’ First grade teacher Maria Alvarez of Mayo Elementary School in Compton agreed. ‘When we have the assembly, Michael comes to talk to them and they are so impressed by how dirty the ocean is. They really want to clean up and help the ocean animals.’ The youngsters spent a couple of hours picking up trash’mostly cigarette butts, paper and styrofoam’while also finding shells, a jellyfish and other signs of ocean life. PaliHi sophomore Stephanny Lemus said, ‘For me it was a different experience. I’ve never done community service with so many people’I think it is a great way to clean up the beach.’ Stephanny and fellow sophomore Yuriko Umana really bonded with the third graders from Mayo Elementary School. They liked it so much that they plan to come to the school to do community service with Edgar Ayala’s class to fulfill some of their required community service hours at PaliHi. ‘It was wonderful how they were able to guide them through the whole beach,’ Ayala said about the teens, who handed out stickers, magnets and pencils they had brought for the youngsters. ‘They showed them what driftwood was and told them why the trash was not good for the beach.’ For some Pali students, like sophomore Ivan Oseida, the trash cleanup was a familiar scene, since he volunteers every month for Heal the Bay. Two other volunteers, Jared Cox and Kat Hamner, are the president and vice-president, respectively, of the PaliHi Orca club, which raises awareness about killer whales. After the clean-up, all the participants formed aerial artwork spelling out ‘Keep Oceans Alive!’ with an image of a life preserver. (See photo, page 1.) ‘The aerial art component is important because the kids are involved in communicating the message further out. They are part of a wider expression,’ said organizer Michael Kublock. Palisadian John Quigley of Spectral Q, who has created this type of artwork around the world, designed and choreographed the beach scene. Students got into groups with their classmates and, megaphone in hand, Quigley guided them into the form of the letters and shapes. The design had been laid out in the sand using plastic and orange flags. Single file, the students lined themselves up next to the plastic and sat down one next to the other. As the helicopter with the aerial photographer flew overhead, Quigley ran back and forth, moving groups of students in red shirts to fill in parts of the life preserver, and asking them to keep their backpacks on their laps. Once his vision was satisfied, the photos of the children forming a message of conservation on the newly cleaned beach were taken from above. Heal the Bay sponsors monthly beach clean-ups. To volunteer, contact: 800-HEALBAY.
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