Take 1 Film Festival will take place on March 12, 2020, at the Museum of Ventura County. The MERITO Foundation, a local environmental non-profit organization, is being recognized with the Community Foundation Award for their efforts to build ocean stewardship and environmental literacy among 4th through 12th grade students. Through a partnership between the MERITO Foundation and Ventura Water, every year over 500 students visit the Ventura Water Reclamation Facility to learn the importance of conserving water in our region, how our water distribution system works, and how to reduce urban runoff pollution.
The partnership with Ventura Water began in 2017 and since then over 1,500 students from Ventura Unified School District have participated in school year programming that includes teachers’ professional development, access to curricula, and students field studies. Studies focus on our watersheds, coast, and the Channel Islands and take place in their classroom and out in these natural environments. They also have the opportunity to address environmental issues such as water scarcity by authoring solutions for their school campuses through a challenge and can receive prizes. A highlight of this partnership for the students is when they visit Ventura Water Reclamation Facility to test the quality of the treated water, observe and identify migratory bird species that frequent the adjacent wetlands, and receive a tour of the facilities.
The MERITO Foundation is a 501 © 3 non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the ocean through education, conservation and citizen science. Their vision is to achieve a healthy ocean cared by diverse coastal communities who live in an environmentally responsible manner regardless of native language, economic status, cultural beliefs, or ethnic background because we all share one ocean. The Water: Take 1 Film Festival is a free, public event featuring short films that showcase critical water issues and community efforts in water conservation and resource management. For more information and to RSVP for the event, please visit: watertake1.com.
