Malibu Foundation Presents Kids World Ocean Day 2021

MALIBU, CA — The 27th Annual Kids Ocean Day, founded by Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education had some differences this year, but still went off without a hitch.

Michael Klubock, founder of the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education and the annual Kids Ocean Day event described the importance of this year's event, more than ever.

“While we have not been able to gather students for in-person school assemblies or a beach cleanup this year, our mission to educate young people continues,” said Michael Klubock, founder of the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education and the annual Kids Ocean Day event. “We are thankful we can still get the message out to elementary students online that they have the power to make a positive difference every day in keeping our environment clean.”

Tracy N. will have her art displayed as the main photo for the statewide mosaic project, designed to call attention to saving the world's oceans, and is sponsored by the California Coastal Commission and its Whale Tail® Grants Program.

In 2021, the Kids Ocean Day Program changed a bit due to the pandemic, organizers say. The annual program shifted to live online presentations this year but still reached 4,503 students who learned about watersheds and how they are personally connected to their watershed and the ocean.

A total of 13 schools and 1,184 Orange County students participated in a virtual assembly program, and 184 of those students submitted photos to the mosaic project and art contest.

2021 Kid’s Ocean Day Winners

• First Place: Tracy N.,5th grade (Teacher Julie Vo, Morningside Elementary School, Garden Grove)

• Second place: Liana S., 7th grade (Teacher Jody Himango, McKinleyville Middle School, McKinleyville)

• Third Place: Sophia M., 3rd grade (Teacher Jill Sethi, Nestle Avenue Charter Elementary School, Tarzana)

• Finalist: Lyra F. 4th grade (Teacher Kisha Deleon, Ericson Elementary, San Diego)

• Finalist: Michaela M., 5th grade (Teacher Mrs. Hollander, Daniel Webster Elementary, Daly City)

Those students gathered, symbolically, through a collective art project that communicates what the ocean means to all of us, according to organizer Dyana Peña, Orange County Coastkeeper’s deputy director of programs.

“We are grateful to have found a way to inspire our students to express their love for the ocean and to come together as a community during a time when the pandemic has made it difficult to feel connected,” Peña said.

In a typical year, Kids Ocean Day coordinators in five regions up and down the coast would host in-school presentations, which a beach cleanup would follow, and culminate with the students forming a work of aerial art (photographed from above) to send a message about the need for clean beaches.

This year, instead of a student-led aerial art formation, students who attended an online classroom presentation were encouraged to create an original artwork illustrating what they love about the ocean for submission to the 2021 Kids Ocean Day Art Contest.

Chris Parry, Public Education Program with the California Coastal Commission, discussed the differences of the 2021 program.

“Kids Ocean Day 2021 is different from past years but is still very impactful,” Parry said. “With each student’s ocean-themed artwork forming part of a collective art project, together they are making a powerful statement about their shared commitment to care for California’s beaches and the Pacific Ocean.”

Each art entry is included as an individual image in a giant online mosaic. The statewide first-place winning artwork is the main image of the mosaic. Contest winners and their teachers received gift cards and other prizes.

Local Orange County teachers were instrumental in providing the best experiences for their students, even while virtual.

Organizers for the Kids Ocean Day event assisted from all across the state of California. include Friends of the Dunes (Humboldt County); the Marine Science Institute (San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties); the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education, the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works and LA Sanitation and Environment, Watershed Protection Program (Los Angeles County); Orange County Coastkeeper (Orange County); and I Love A Clean San Diego (San Diego County).

“It’s natural for us to protect what we love, like our families and our homes,” said Jack Ainsworth, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission. “These kids are showing the ocean some love and appreciation and encouraging us to follow their lead. They understand that our home doesn’t end at our doorstep and that we also need to tend to our wider home—the environment where we all live—since we depend on the ocean being healthy, and the ocean depends on us to keep it that way.”

The Coastal Commission provides financial support to Kids’ Ocean Day efforts statewide with proceeds from the Whale Tail® License Plate and voluntary donations on the state tax return to the Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund.

Klubock reiterated that they are thankful to still get the message out to elementary students online, "that they have the power to make a positive difference every day in keeping our environment clean.”

Check out the 2021 Kid’s Ocean Day Picture Mosaic and animation video here. Statewide art winners and finalists are listed below. To view their art pieces, visit www.oceanday.net.