EECCOA Awards winners from 2017.
Sustainability Now News
by Maryann Ridini Spencer
The MERITO Foundation and partners host the 4th Annual 2018-2019 EECCOA Challenge & Awards Ceremony from 4:00 pm to 7:30 pm at the Museum of Ventura County May 31, 2019. The event, open to the public, is the culmination of a 9-month climate, energy, and ocean science education program for 6th-12th-grade students which starts in September each year and concludes with the EECCOA Challenge Awards.
“The Challenge came about after we realized education by itself is not always sufficient to change behaviors,” said MERITO Foundation’s Executive Director Rocio Lozano-Knowlton. “Students receive a lot of pessimistic information regarding environmental future through many sources, and they can become apathetic. About six years ago while I was presenting to a class, a young student mentioned he felt it was ‘okay to trash and pollute the ocean, because we humans will go to planet B anyway.’ This type of thinking made us realize we needed to not only provide information but instill positive action.”
MERITO Foundation’s mission is to provide vital environmental information as well as empower action through its project-based learning programs.
“Students spend most of their time at school and at home,” continued Lozano-Knowlton. “By giving students the tools (through their teachers), and incentives, they become problem solvers of local issues with a global perspective. By learning environmentally conscious behaviors such as reusing, reducing, recycling, composting, conserving water and energy, and understanding the science behind the environmental problems we face, and how these problems threaten our health as well as the economy, the information becomes engraved in their subconscious.”
How the EECCOA Program works
The EECCOA Program accepts 8-10 teachers a year who commit to attend MERITO’s teachers’ training. Every fall, these teachers then present MERITO lesson plans that teach concepts such as the carbon cycle, greenhouse effect, and types of energy. Students also get involved in environmental-based field studies that address ocean and climate environmental issues. For the project design, students learn how to conduct a waste or energy audit, and how to read utility bills, etc. Partner organizations also provide guidance and resources to the students to assist with their studies and proposals.
In the spring, students, in teams of 2-5 students, follow the EECCOA Challenge guidelines to develop their proposals to design methods and budgets to save our environment. A panel of judges comprised of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and educators, reviews the submissions in four tiers (energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, and outreach campaigns that inform about ocean acidification), and 15 proposals are selected.
Cash prizes are: 1st place: $850, 2nd place: $600, and 3rd place: $350. Additionally, three teams receive Honorable mention prize (a trip to the Channel Islands sponsored by Island Packers). The judging panel also selects one or two projects to be implemented within the school district with $2500 awarded to each winning school.
The 2018-2019 EECCOA program sponsors include NOAA B-WET Grant Program, Ventura Water, and Sea Forward. Additional event sponsors include Island Packers, Rubio’s, Trader Joes, MC Don Wood, and BeGreenPackaging. MERITO is still seeking donations for prizes, food, and other items for this event. Donate through directly at https://tinyurl.com/y5c9gsob or contact [email protected] for in-kind or cash sponsorships. For tickets, visit: eventbrite.com and search “MERITO Foundation.”
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