PACOIMA : Students Leave Mark on Beach by Cleaning Up

It was only her third trip ever to the beach, but instead of splashing in the waves and collecting shells, 8-year-old Susanna Avila, on her knees and with a plastic bag at her side, picked up cigarette butts, pieces of surf-worn glass and scraps of paper.

“Some people don’t care about anything but themselves,” the third-grader said. “They always throw trash at the beach and everywhere.”

Susanna was one of 154 students from Pacoima Elementary School who ended a months-long recycling program Saturday with a trip to the beach. The students, who helped pay for their bus ride to Playa del Ray by collecting nearly 10,000 cans and plastic bottles, joined California’s ninth annual Coastal Clean Up Day as the first school to complete the Adopt-a-Beach School Assembly program, a fledgling environmental education program.

Started last year by a sailor-turned-environmentalist, the program received a $93,000 grant in June from the state Department of Conservation’s Division of Recycling to educate elementary school students about the effects of littering on marine life.

Michael Klubock, who started the program, said he hopes to bring the message to about 200 Los Angeles Unified School District schools this year.

Starting with a slide show at an assembly, Klubock tells students how litter can travel down storm drains and end up on the beach, where it threatens wildlife.

The Pacoima students brought cans and bottles to class, raising more than $400 for three buses. Councilman Richard Alarcon’s office matched the amount.

While somewhat disturbed by the litter they found on the beach, the students were not deterred.

“We can do a lot,” said 8-year-old Nayelie Solis. “The beach could be new and the animals won’t get stuck on the litter.”

Eight-year-old Alan Martinez, who had never been to the beach before Saturday, said cleaning the beach with his classmates made him feel hopeful.

Gazing at the horizon, a plastic litter bag dangling at his side, he remarked on how blue the water looked.

“The whole place looks so beautiful,” he said. “I think I can save the Earth.”