VENTURA : Students Return to Beach to Clean Up

Students from Lincoln School cleaned up the beach near the Ventura Pier a month ago.

They went back Thursday, and guess what--a mess again.

Fourth-grader Micayla Drew, 10, wrinkled her nose and surveyed the scene. “It’s kind of disappointing to see all this litter still here,” she said as she started across the sand with a trash bag.

She and her classmates are the first in a state program in which schools adopt a stretch of beach. They’ve promised to keep a one-mile strip of sand spiffy from the pier south to San Pedro Street.

“When we’re through, it’s not going to look like a junkyard,” said Nick Smedley, 10.

“It’s not fair that we have to keep on cleaning it, but our only other choice is to just live with it,” fifth-grader Jesse Spring said.

In addition to outdoor janitorial training, the program includes lectures on marine life and beach ecology. Litter, park ranger Andrew Zilke said, constitutes first-hand knowledge of environmental problems.

Spreading out over the sand, about 100 pupils scoured the beach for glass, cans and paper cups. They divided the trash into different bags for recyclables and throwaways. In 2 1/2 hours, they collected 70 pounds, Zilke said.

The children were mindful that trash can be mistaken for food by sea gulls and seals.

“If we don’t clean up these things now, we might not have these animals around much longer,” said Brittany Adams, 10. “I want my kids to enjoy the beach like I do.”