ODA's Lower Schoolers Celebrate Earth Day With a Beach Clean Up

At The Out-of-Door Academy, we believe that involved, empathetic people who use their education to better their communities at large are just as important as classroom English, history, and math lessons. Our students are encouraged to take action in meaningful and compassionate ways through established initiatives such as our Lower School Earth Day beach clean up at Siesta Beach.

Students from pre-K through fifth grade arrived at Siesta Beach wearing hats, sunscreen, and gloves, ready to begin beautifying the world-famous destination spot. Each grade worked together in teams to collect debris littering the sand. Although the beach gets groomed regularly, visitors often leave their trash behind when they leave. Students found an abundance of food wrappers, plastic, paper, and cardboard, bottles, cans, and cigarette butts; they filled their trash bags as they combed the play and picnic areas, around the lifeguard stands, and along the edge of the dunes.

After returning to campus, educators sorted and weighed everything that had been collected. In addition to the unusual items found including a seat belt, socks, and an  iron rod, the students and adults picked up more than 12 pounds of litter, including 3.12 lbs. of plastic, 1.14 lbs. of trash, and 3.6 lbs. of paper/cardboard. This data was shared during Assembly, surprising many with the volume of waste they removed in less than one hour.

 

Our educators are constantly in awe of how the students not only embrace service projects but continue to make them more successful than expected. Out-of-Door would like to thank everyone–students, educators, and parent volunteers–who helped to make this annual service outing a success for our entire community.