OJAI : Students May Go to Summit in Brazil

Several Ojai teen-agers who have already won international acclaim for their environmental activism may get a chance to address the United Nations Earth Summit in Brazil in June.

The students, all of whom attend Laurel Springs School in Ojai, have repeatedly been honored for a series of motivational videotapes they made to teach other children about the environment.

The most recent honor--an invitation to address the U.N. environmental summit that begins May 30--stems from an honor the school picked up in 1990, the Global 500 Award, said Laurel Springs School Director Marilyn Mosley.

The U.N. award, given to honor significant contributors to environmental awareness, stemmed from the group’s first video, called “We Can Make a Difference,” Mosley said.

The video was produced in a studio at the Ojai school and has been seen by more than a million children worldwide, Mosley said.

She said the group must raise $10,000 to finance the trip for the four students and two faculty advisers to make the 12-day trip to Brazil. So far, she said, the group has raised about $4,000.

On Saturday, she said she learned that Varig Airlines, the Brazilian carrier, had offered to give them half-price airplane tickets.

“We’d really like to send all four of these children who have been so involved in the video projects,” Mosley said.

If the remaining dollars are raised, the students will deliver a talk on their videos during a workshop entitled, “Children and the Environment.”