All hail the fifth grade class of Mount Madonna Elementary School. A DVD they wrote and produced about how to reduce the impact of garbage on the ocean took first place in the Siemens Change the World Challenge, winning the school a $5,000 grant, and the students a chance to show off their acting ability and ecological acumen.
As the students show in their film, it takes more than a cape and tighty whiteys over your jeans to save the planet’s oceans (though that certainly helps as well). It takes knowledge, commitment, and a sense of partnership to really make a difference. As they point out, “In the US alone we throw out over 100 billion single use items each year, and only six percent are recycled. It is estimated that 80 percent of these bags end up in the ocean.”
So what’s next for the Save Our Planet Superheroes? They’ve already met with city leaders in Watsonville and written letters to their local representatives. Now the class will feature in a spot on one of the Discovery Channels, and there is even talk of their video appearing on the Jumbotron in New York’s Times Square.
Most of all, when they get a little older and head to the beach, they will be able to say to their friends, “The reason it’s clean is because of something I did in school a long time ago.” It’s not just the cape that makes the superhero.
Read More at KSBW.
Watch the video here.
