Teach & Test Santa Monica

Year End Event! June 8, 2010 - 7 pm

2010-06-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

Join us for our Year End Event
June 8 2010, 7:00 pm
Arbor: 102 Washington Blvd 90292

Snacks • Drinks • Presentation

Teach and Test Mentorship Program #2

2010-04-11T18:04:00.001-07:00

WE ARE DOING IT AGAIN!

The last Teach and Test Mentorship Program Day was such a huge success we are doing it again to extend the opportunity to more teachers and students.

During the Teach and Test Mentorship Program middle school students get to know what it's like to work in a real laboratory. Led by participants of the Santa Monica High School & Surfrider Teach and Test Program students collect water samples from the beach and then return them to the lab to test for harmful bacteria. It is a wonderful hands-on learning experience and lots of fun.
Food will be provided for everyone who attends and students will earn community service hours for their participation.
Please join us!

When: Saturday April 17th 2010
Time: 10am-2pm
Where: Santa Monica High School S107

Please contact Benjamin Kay to RSVP.
email: bkay@smmusd.org

Santa Monica Mirror Article feature Teach & Test Mentorship Program

2010-03-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

By Hannah Heinman

Students from Lincoln Middle School and the Santa Monica Alternative School House had the opportunity to participate in an ocean water quality testing workshop hosted by Santa Monica High School (SAMOHI) students on February 20.

Read the full article here.
http://www.smmirror.com/MainPages/DisplayArchiveArticle.asp?eid=12068

Teach and Test Mentorship Program

2010-02-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

Pictured above: Member of the Teach and Teach and Test program Jacob Hasset takes water quality samples with students from Lincoln Middle School and SMASH by the Santa Monica Pier

Yesterday members of the Teach and Test Program at Santa Monica High School taught students from Lincoln Middle School and SMASH all about water quality testing and the importance of keeping our oceans clean. We took the students down to the beach where they each took a sample of the water and filled out a data sheet. Then they each were given the opportunity to process their sample in the laboratory and put their finished sample in the incubator. We tested their knowledge of what they learned with a game of Teach and Test Jeopardy! It was wonderful experience inspiring the youth to make a positive change in the world.

Pictured above: Members of the Teach and Test program Kou Collins and Daniel Franco teach a student from Lincoln Middle School how to process their sample in the lab.

Teach and Test Mentorship Workshop!

2010-02-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

The first Teach and Test Mentorship Workshop is on February 20, 2010

Learn about our water quality testing process with this hands-on, fun experience!

Meet at Santa Monica High School in room S107

The workshop will start at 10AM and be over by 2PM

Sign up by emailing Benjamin Kay at bkay@smmusd.org and Devany Garcia at devany.garcia@gmail.com with the number of participants planning to come

See you there!!!

Teach And Test In The News!

2010-01-28T13:52:00.000-08:00

The Surfrider Foundation's Teach and Test Program at Santa Monica High School is featured today in the Santa Monica Daily Press. The article is about the dangerously high levels of harmful bacteria that was found by the students during the recent rainy weather.
You Can Read The Article By Clicking On The Link Below

http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2010-01-27-68362.113116_Students_find_high_levels_of_bacteria_in_bay.html

Storms Breed Bacteria Levels More Than Double what EPA Considers Safe in the Santa Monica Bay

2010-01-22T13:56:00.000-08:00

As heavy rain falls this week in Los Angeles, we hit the beach to see how the rain is affecting water quality in the Santa Monica Bay. Our results were shocking, with bacteria levels more than double what the EPA considers safe. Here are the numbers:

223 Santa Monica Pier*
331 Bay Street*
120 Where the Pico-Kenter storm drain meets the ocean (average)*
7,915 Runoff in the Pico Kenter storm drain (from the streets of LA)*

104 The maximum bacteria EPA allows before the water is deemed unsafe*

*enterococcus (a fecal bacteria whose presence suggests that other harmful bacteria and viruses are also present), measured by organisms per milliliter

As you can see, bacteria levels in the runoff were more than 75 times higher than what the EPA considers safe.

We don't care what kind of a swell this storm brings, you should not be surfing or swimming in this water! In fact, you should stay out of the water 72 hours after it rains any time in LA, because this is when the water carries high levels of trash, cigarette butts, heavy metals, and disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

Teach and Test Presentation to Peace Troop

2009-11-24T13:51:00.001-08:00

Members of the Samohi Teach and Test Program gave a presentation to a group of girls from Overland Elementary School called the Peace Troop. The Samohi Teach and Test program is committed to outreach and educating others (especially the youth) about the problems facing our oceans and what we can do to help.

During the presentation members of the Samohi Teach and Test Program showed the students our water samples from the "First Flush".

The Night of the First Flush

2009-10-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

Pictured above in what flowed out of the Pico-Kenter storm drain during the first flush on October 14th 2009. All the trash that had been building up in our storm drains over the summer hurdled into the ocean. Trash such as styrofoam and plastic water bottles will never biodegrade in the ocean. They will simply photo degrade into smaller and smaller pieces adding to the plastic soup that is the North Pacific Gyre. This needs to stop!

We were on high alert as the first rain began to fall in Santa Monica. We did not expect such a large flush so soon. Once we were alerted that the storm drain was flowing Devany, Raphael, Mr. Kay, Kou, Megan and Mel ran down to the beach at 8pm to film the devastation.

A thick layer of foam covered the surface of the stagnant pool of urban run-off.

2009-09-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

Heal The Bay Surfrider Club and Team Marine's 5th annual Ban The Bag March was a huge success. Front page of the Santa Monica Daily Press!!!

http://www.smdp.com/pdf/091909.pdf

Roots and Shoots Day of Peace at the SM Pier

2009-09-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEKEND WAS BUSY! WITH EVENTS EVERYDAY, WE HARDLY HAD

TIME TO STOP AND TAKE IN ALL OF THE WONDERFUL

THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING AROUND US!

ON SUNDAY WE HEADED TO SANTA MONICA PIER FOR

THE ROOTS AND SHOOTS DAY OF PEACE SPONSORED

BY JANE GOODALL'S ORGANIZATION.

TEAM MARINE AND THE HEAL THE BAY/SURFRIDER CLUB

OF SAMOHI CAME OUT TO

SET UP OUR TABLE AND OH SOO, SOO MUCH MORE!

READ ON:
OUR BOTTLE TOP MARINE ANIMALS WERE A SHOW STOPPER. WE HAD EVERYTHING FROM AN OCTOPUS TO A DOLPHIN MADE OUT OF BOTTLE TOPS IN FRONT OF MANY IMPRESSIVE STUDENT PROJECTS ON DISPLAY AT OUR TABLE.
KEISHA CAME OUT EARLY AND STAYED LATE. SHE WALKED AROUND WEARING THE BOTTLE SWEATSHIRT ALONG WITH MEL IN HER FULL BODY SUIT OF BOTTLE TOPS.

SORRY I DIDN'T GET A PICTURE OF THAT! IT MUST HAVE BEEN PRETTY HOT IN THERE.
HERE'S MEGAN TALKING TO THE "PEACE TROOP" OF OVERLAND ELEMENTARY.

A NEWLY FORMED GROUP OF FORMER GIRL SCOUTS WHO STARTED THEIR OWN THING, THEY CAME OUT TO WORK AT THE SURFRIDER TABLE AND BE A PART OF THE

FESTIVITIES. MEAGAN'S HOLDING A WATER SAMBLE FROM THE NORTH PACIFIC

TRASH GYRE ON LOAN FROM ALGALITA. I'VE SEEN IT UP CLOSE, MORE PLASTIC BITS THAN DEAD CRABS MAKES FOR A THOROUGHLY DISGUSTING EXAMPLE OF THE PROBLEM WE FACE WITH MARINE DEBRIS IN OUR OCEANS.
THE NORTH PACIFIC TRASH GYRE WAS ONCE TWICE THE SIZE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS, BUT HAS NOW GROWN TO TWICE THE SIZE OF THE CONTINENTAL U.S.. CAN YOU WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND THAT? A FLOATING MAN MADE ISLAND OF TRASH IN THE PACIFIC OF MOSTLY PLASTIC GAINING IN SIZE ALL THE TIME. UGH.....

LOOK AT THE SAMPLE ABOVE FOR A SOBERING VIEW OF WHAT'S OUT THERE.
WHAT COULD THE STUDENTS HAVE MADE WITH THIS MANY BOTTLE TOPS YOU MAY ASK? LOOK AT THE PICTURE BELOW FOR THE ANSWER......
BIG ENOUGH TO LEAN AGAINST THE ENTIRE FRONT OF THE STAGE, THIS SIGN IS IMPRESSIVE TO SAY THE LEAST.
HERE'S A DETAIL OF THE BOAT THAT TEAM MARINE BUILT AND RACED LAST YEAR.

HERE'S A PICTURE OF THE ENTIRE THING OUTSIDE THE TENT. COUNTLESS HOURS WERE SPENT ON THE CONSTRUCTION. WHERE DO THEY GET ALL THE TIME TO DO THESE FABULOUS THINGS? MAYBE THEY DON'T SLEEP.
THIS PAINTING HUNG BEHIND THE STAGE. THANK YOU JANE GOODALL FOR BEING A VISIONARY FOR MILLIONS OF OTHERS TO FOLLOW. NOT EVERYONE WILL BE ANOTHER JANE GOODALL, BUT ONE THING IS SURE, WE WILL NEED EVERYONE TO DO WHAT THEY CAN TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE THIS WORLD IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF.

ONE WEEKEND AT A TIME, ONE EVENT AT A TIME, ONE BOTTLE TOP ANIMAL AT A TIME. YOU GET THE IDEA.

Watch this video all about Teach & Test!

2009-09-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

A video all about Santa Monica High School and the Surfrider Teach & Test program is now featured on the Green Observers Website! Get a glimpse into what we do every week to monitor the water quality in the Santa Monica Bay.

Just click on the link

http://www.greenobservers.org/urban-runoff.html

Coastal Clean Up Day

2009-09-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE ANNUAL COASTAL CLEAN UP DAY.

WHEN: SEPTEMBER 19th 9am-12pm

WHERE: LIFEGUARD STATION 18

IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YOU MUST HAVE THIS WAIVER SIGNED BY YOUR PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN AND PRESENT IT AT THE CLEAN UP OR YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE!

FOLLOW LINK TO PRINT OUT WAIVER

http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd5.html

Oil Drilling in So Cal Proposed Again!

2009-09-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

STOP OFF SHORE DRILLING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!

Well, they just won't give up! In July you all worked hard to defeat the Governor’s Oil Drilling Scheme. Your efforts helped carry the day. The Governor’s plan was defeated in the California Assembly by a vote of 43-28.

There was massive opposition to the first attempt at this end run and the opposition has only grown.

Unfortunately, the drilling company PXP is trying to make a comeback and Asm. Sam Blakeslee is its new champion – Republican Assembly member Sam Blakeslee has a "gut-and-amend" bill (AB 1536) to hand PXP the 1st new lease to drill in state waters since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. The Blakeslee bill would create a sham committee to subvert the State Lands Commission authority.

We have to defeat this blatant disregard for California's independent resource protection agencies.We did it before and we can do it again.

Your urgent action is needed -- AB 1536 (Blakeslee) is currently in the Senate Rules Committee. The bill cannot proceed without special action by the Committee. Please click below to email your Assembly and Senate Members to express your opposition to this bill AB 1536. Additionally please call Senate Rules Committee Chair Darrell Steinberg to let him know this type of sham legislation is innapropriate and should not be allowed out of the Rules Committee. And be sure to to remind him that at least 93 environmental organizations oppose this legislation. His number is(916) 651-4006

Wed. the 9th at Santa Monica Pier

2009-09-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

There will be fireworks and other cool stuff on the pier in Santa Monica tomorrow night. Surfrider will have a table there. Fireworks will be displayed, music, and more. Come along, the event is free and it is to celebrate Santa Monica. A great way to reach people and talk to them about Ocean Conservation. Fun! Festivities start around 5:30 - 6:00 pm.

Students in Action

2009-09-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

10 WAYS TO SAVE OUR OCEAN

2009-09-03T01:01:00.001-07:00

Take Part!

2009-06-08T23:38:00.000-07:00

Take Part in Teach & Test....

http://www.takepart.com/blog/2009/06/08/surfrider-foundation-teams-up-with-santa-monica-high-school/

Santa Monica Daily Press Talks Teach & Test

2009-05-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

Santa Monica Daily Press talks about the importance of Teach & Test to the health of local beaches as well as developing participant’s environmental leadership and scientific skills. This is the first step in developing a voice for the Santa Monica High School students to local media in order educate community members across the water shed. View the full article.

California Coastal Commission Awards Teach & Test with Whale Tail Grant

2009-04-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the California Coastal Commission for supporting the Santa Monica Teach & Test program through a $39,000 Whale Tale Grant. These funds will provide lab equipment and support for public outreach for the 2009-2010 school year.

Luxury Life & Style Article

2009-03-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

Teach & Test was featured in the March/April issue of Luxury Life & Style magazine. Download the article here.