Achievements 2014 – 2015 – Page 3

October 18, 2014October 20, 2014

Parent Meeting

At the start of every year, team members host a special meeting/ potluck dinner where our parents can come and watch a presentation. On October 17th, 2014 we held our parent meeting and do this mainly so they can understand how vigorous and time consuming being a member is, but also learn what we have done and what we will do in the new year. In watching the presentation, we hope that our parents will feel inspired by us. This meeting is pivotal in the success of the team because although we are environmental activists, we are students and their family members first. With the support and consent of our parents going to events is much easier. We love it when our parents get envolved and parent support is extremely important. All the members would like to thank our parents, and let them know that they are the most important members on the team, always stepping up when we need them. Thank you Team Marine parents!

October 18, 2014October 20, 2014

Commendation from the Board of Education

Team Marine on October 16, 2014 received a commendation from the Board of Education. We got this honor because of the hard work we put forth for the last eight years regarding the state wide plastic bag ban, which recently passed. Three of our best speakers took the podium and went through a short powerpoint highlighting what service learning, research, and artwork we have accomplished in support of the statewide plastic bag ban. After viewing this, we hope that they take into consideration the three ideas that we gave them to improve the district in a sustainable way. The first idea we would like to see implemented is a sustainability committee that includes all stake holders: parents, teachers and students. Secondly, to adopt “environmental literacy ” in our mission statement so that all students graduating from SMMUSD be environmentally literate. Finally, to increase environmental education opportunities for both students and teachers. We are deeply thankful that the board thought of us, and recognized us, and we hope to see the district become more sustainable, together.

October 6, 2014October 20, 2014

Green Festival

On Saturday September 14, 2014, a couple of our members and marine bio/AP Environmental students attended the Green Festival at the Convention Center in Downtown, Los Angeles. Team Marine was present on the third day, and were able to experience the green energy that flowed from every booth. We were introduced to new healthy food and drinks, and discovered many new foundations and reconnect with groups such as Tree People. We learned about the L.A Beyond Coal Campaign that is sponsored by the Sierra Club, which is a campaign pushing for Los Angeles to stop the use of coal and start using renewable and more affordable energy. We got to see Anna Cummings give a presentation representing 5 Gyres ( and her cute little girl) as well as Angela Sun promoting promoting the new movie Plastic Paradise. The festival brought awareness towards the environment and it’s problems, but also provided a variety of solutions to improve the world and to reduce humans ecological footprint. We hope to attend many more festivals like this is the future!

September 1, 2014September 15, 2014

California Bag Ban Passed!

If you haven’t heard already, we have just had a HUGE environmental win on August 29^th, 2014 with Senate Bill 270. After eight long hardworking years of Team Marine student involvement, both the California Senate and Assembly have passed a STATE plastic bag ban with a speedy signature from Gov. Jerry Brown expected to follow. We aided efforts with award winning scientific research; testified numerous times in city halls across the county; marched six times through city streets; created multiple PSA videos and documented six years of storm drain runoff (first flush); We also did eco-artwork; lobbied three times at the state capitol building; called and wrote our representatives!

Not to mention we leveraged every kind of multimedia including (but not limited to) TV, newspapers, magazines, blogs,radio, podcasts, and books. We collaborated with more than a dozen NGO’s and academic institutions; educated countless audiences with lesson plans, speeches, and booth presentations; Tweeted, Instagrammed, Face Booked , and blogged continuously on our website approaching 1 million page views. After all of this we finally won!

Special thanks to the entire Clean Seas Coalition, Leslie Tamminen, and all who contributed to this multi-year effort. Here’s to progress and youth making a difference!

Check out what Team Marine did to help make this possible below: