Smithsonian Ocean Portal

The Student Summit is being featured on the Ocean Portal. You can learn more here. We leave for DC in less than a week. The time has flown, I can't believe it's time to go already!

CAP!

It is getting really close to the DC trip for the CAP project and I am really excited! We have worked really hard on this project and have learned so much along  the way. I think our video looks great and can  really make an impact on the viewers, and I hope all of the other delegations  enjoy it as much as we do. I am also really excited to meet everyone in DC and see there presentations and learn about what they did to make an impact and help the environment!

Jessica Lama

Some Thoughts About DC...

Hello everyone! Evan here, one of the members of our group. I am very excited to go on our trip, and I know it will be an unforgettable experience. I think I am most excited to go behind-the-scenes at the Smithsonian Museums in DC. Having visited the city many times in the past, I think it will be nice to see something different than the usual museums. Another one of my favorite parts of the trip will be to go to the National Associations of Zoos and Aquariums dinner, where our group will get to meet Jack Hanna! I think it will be so cool to meet someone you see on TV a lot. Overall, it will be a great experience, and I can't wait to capture it on camera to share it with you!

Thanks,

Evan Lucas

Working Films

We went downtown yesterday to meet with Working Films. Working Films is a nonprofit company that is about "Linking non-fiction film with cutting edge activism". They sent us an email when they saw our newspaper article inviting us to come talk with them. "They are the only national media outreach organization offering free consultations on using films for social justice to independent filmmakers". They're housed in an old fire house which as really neat. We showed them our preview film and they gave us a lot of great suggestions:

Create a hit list: what things do we care about and are things that people can do something about? What do we want them to care about? Things that they can actually impact.

Actions we need to include:

• Get our audience to go outside, see how fragile our local area is
• 5 things you can do as a local resident that you can do to help our coastal environment

To keep people's attention, our film should be no more than 20 min.

Start with the action not the footage. (This ties back into the reserach that the Ocean Project Shared with us: People want actions!)

They suggest that we set up some strategy sessions: who did we talk to that had the best ideas? We need to bring them in to talk to each other (sierra club, nature conservancy, Audubon) and ask them what the message should be. We want relevant, meaningful actions, and a narrative they can use. Working Films even offered to host the sessions in their fire house.

The most effective films are ones with characters that people love. We need to give their back stories and why they’re involved and why they care. We need to especially include the students stories and why they are involved in this project.

Working films has offered to look at our rough cuts and help us figure it out so we don't get too bogged down. They will also help us figure out how to make a 20 min film into a presentation.

 
Working films has a series of films called Reel Power: Films Fueling the energy revolution. Many of these films might play into the project we're working on. You can check them out here.

It was great listening to the students share the information about our project and hear the feedback they got. It was a wonderful experience that should continue through the rest of the project as Working Films has offered so much assistance. Having now film background, I'll take all of the help I can get :-) It was a great afternoon! The students will be posting soon with their thoughts on the project as we get ready to leave in less than two weeks!
Thanks~ Megan

Our Action video

Here is the video we've put together to take to Washington DC in two weeks. This is not our final product but what we're sharing at the summit. Enjoy!
Our Video

Going Live!

So we're almost finished with our 3 minute film for the Summit. It is looking fabulous. The students' poster is beautiful and things are moving right along. We just got word today that they will be live streaming the Summit from DC. You'll be able to watch the whole thing from the Smithsonian Page and then there will be a recap on Wednesday from the Jason Project. You can check those out here:

Event webcast from 8:30 am – 6:30 pm EST, February 15, 2011:

Webcast

The JASON Project Interactive Broadcast with students, 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. EST, February 16, 2011:

Jason Project

Our group will be presenting at 10:45 am eastern time for anyone who wants to watch. It will be time to head out before we know it! How exciting!
Thanks~ Megan

90 Days to Earth Day

Attention Grades K-12

3rd Annual 90 Days to Earth Day challenge begins January 22

The challenge? To pick up as much litter as possible between January 22 and Earth Day, April 22, focusing on trash that is closest to making its way into our life support system – the ocean.

Streams, creeks, rivers, the Intracoastal Waterway and beaches are the targets of Ocean Cure’s annual 90 Days to Earth Day challenge. A local non-profit best known for providing surf camps to medically fragile and at-risk youth, Ocean Cure removed two-and-a-half tons of trash during its annual clean-up challenge in 2009 and 2010, recycling 80 percent of it. Now in its third year, 90 Days to Earth Day hopes to attract an unprecedented number of participants from North Carolina’s coastal region, making the first two years look more like a “warm-up” session. Participating grade K-12 students will have the opportunity to win prizes donated by local area businesses, with those completing a photo or video essay of their trash collection efforts eligible to win the grand prize, a week-long surf camp and Engrain surfboard from Indo Jax Surf and Kiteboard School.

Click here for rules and registration forms. Please fill out the registration form and mail it to Kevin Murphy at 607 N. Lake Park blvd. Carolina Beach, NC 28428. Any questions please contact him at 910-431-0594 or KMurphSBU@gmail.com.

The ocean provides much of the food, water and oxygen we need to survive. It absorbs half of the carbon dioxide (CO2) that we pump into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels and most of the extra heat produced by the greenhouse effect.

Get involved. Your efforts will make a difference.

The 3rd Annual 90 Days to Earth Day kicks off Jan22 and lasts until April 22
(Earth Day)! Each participant is asked to pick up as much litter as possible
from our local waterways- rivers, streams, intercoastals, beaches, etc.
Winners are judged through their photo or video essay. Each time a cleanup is
completed, the participant must take a photo or video of the trash collected
and write a brief summary. On April 20th the participants must turn in their
project to Kevin Murphy at 607 N Lake Park Blvd. Carolina Beach, NC or via
email at kmurphsbu@gmail.com. This year, the Grand Prize is a NEW Engrain
Surfboard and each participant will receive a 90 Days to Earth Day T-shirt!
Eligible participants for the grand prize must be in grades K-12. Public,
private, and home school are all eligible. Frequent updates will be made on
our Ocean Cure Facebook page along with the Indo Jax Surf School blog. I will
also stay in touch through email. Remember to be safe while collecting trash!
Always take an adult and wear protective gloves!
Thank you for helping to Protect Our Coast!