Press Releases

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has awarded 23 California K-12 schools more than $115,000 to become Ocean Guardians. An Ocean Guardian School makes a commitment to the protection and conservation of its local watersheds, the world's ocean, and special ocean areas like national marine sanctuaries.

The school receives grants to implement a school- or community-based watershed/ocean stewardship project. At the end of the school year, schools that pass a formal evaluation process will be officially recognized by NOAA as an Ocean Guardian School.

Each school has been granted up to $6,000 in funding to focus on one of five main areas: watershed restoration, reuse/reduce/recycle/rot, marine debris, water quality monitoring, and schoolyard habitats/gardens. Since the program started in 2009, 35 schools in California have been awarded funding for their conservation projects of which 28 have been honored as Ocean Guardian Schools.

"California sets a great example for schools nationwide by promoting environmental conservation in their local community with funding from NOAA's Ocean Guardian School program," said Larry Robinson, NOAA deputy administrator and assistant secretary for conservation and management. "Ocean Guardian Schools engage students in learning environmentally sustainable practices while directly improving their communities."

Among this year's 23 Ocean Guardian School grant recipients are: Joaquin Miller Elementary School (Alameda County), Loma Verde Elementary School (Marin County), Menlo-Atherton High School (San Mateo County) , Pine Crest Elementary (Sonoma County), Sebastopol Independent Charter School (Sonoma County) Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm (Sonoma County), Will C. Wood Middle School (Alameda County) Willow Creek Academy (Marin County).

NOAA's Ocean Guardian Schools ended the last school year, with more than 2,000 pounds of trash removed from area beaches and neighborhoods, 47,000 pounds of trash/recyclables/food waste kept out of landfills, 2,400 gallons of water reclaimed, 75,000 square feet of non-native invasive plants removed and 3,700 native plants installed.

NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels.

On the Web:

NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

NOAA Ocean Guardian School

NOAA Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary

NOAA Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary