11th Hour Racing sailor Nick Dana visited St Michaels Country Day School with Volvo Ocean Race mascot Wisdom the albatross to talk to the kids about the plastic problem.
The school in Newport was luck enough to meet sailor Nick Dana, Wisdom and members of the Volvo Ocean Race Education Programme to find out how they can help to turn the tide on plastic.
The children have all become ocean advocates and now track how each boat is doing in the race. The class recently had a live chat with the crew as they raced towards the Newport finish line.
© Jesus Renedo/Volvo Ocean Race
The children are also going to visit the Race Village and 11th Hour’s One Ocean Exploration Zone and learn more about the issues and solutions to plastic pollution from things like water bottles and bags.
Nick, whose nieces and nephews attend the school, talked to the kids about how he had seen plastic in the sea on the last leg of the Race from Itajai in Brazil, including a heart shaped balloon floating in the water near Newport.
Nick said: “It was really special to come back to my former school and by speaking to the children about plastic it has made me understand how we must let more people know what we’ve seen whilst racing around the world.
© Jesus Renedo/Volvo Ocean Race
“This is one of the most important things we can do in the race because we are educating the young people who are going to have to deal with the plastic problem in the future.”
During the visit, Lucy Hunt, Volvo Ocean Race Education Programme Manager, spoke with the children about the effects of plastic pollution in the ocean and how they can help protect the ocean by becoming Champions for the Sea.
Lucy said: “Its really great to get out to visit the schools and also have all the students visit the race village and take part in our sustainability workshops. The kids understand that they can really make a difference by taking small steps, like saying no straws.
© James Blake/Volvo Ocean Race
“We have worked with over 12000 kids at the stopovers and if all of these students take small steps we can have a real positive impact and cleaner oceans in the future.”
Sustainability Programme Founding Principal Partners 11th Hour Racing sponsor this international education programme.
Resources are available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Dutch and Chinese. Different cross-curricular class activities are also optional and listed in the teacher’s booklet of each topic.
Although the booklets are age specific the 8-12 year olds booklets are a good introductory fact booklet for anyone older who also wants to be better informed on the Volvo Ocean Race, our ocean connection, ocean health and how we can reduce ocean plastic pollution.
All education materials are available for free download from the website.
