Think about your typical school day—lecturing to students about concepts that are important but not tangible.  Now imagine your students wading through a storm channel to test water quality, pulling out invasive ice plant at an ecological reserve, and identifying marine life in an estuary.  Students retain information best when it can be applied directly to their world.  At Coastkeeper we want to show our youth they don’t have to go far to find an environment worth saving.  As our county continues to grow and develop, it is vital that we are a society aware of the positive and negative impacts we can make on our local environment.  What better place to start than high school! 

Orange County Coastkeeper (OCCK) is pleased to introduce you to W.H.A.L.E.S.: Watershed Heroes- Actions Linking Education to Stewardship.  Equipment will be provided for water quality monitoring, biological assessments, and marine life surveys. The program is intended to generate student interest in environmental conditions and introduce the potential career opportunities associated with watershed management. During the course of this program students will visit sites such as:

• A sewage treatment plant
• A flood control facility
• The Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve
• A habitat restoration site
• Crystal Cove State Beach

So, are you ready to sign up your class?  Our primary targets for next year are schools that receive Title 1 funds or have over 50% of students on a free or reduced price lunch program.  As these schools typically lack the funds to participate in off-campus environmental programs, Coastkeeper commits to offering W.H.A.L.E.S. free of charge to low-income schools.   If you are interested in participating in this program or have any questions please contact Education Coordinator Briana Madden or Project Assistant Miho Umezawa.  You can reach us at the Coastkeeper office at 714.850.1965.  Hope to hear from you!