This story was written by Steve Kolodny.
A bright and sunny afternoon welcomed 70 participants who showed up at the beach to support the Long Beach High School Surf Club’s Sixth Annual Beach Cleanup Oct. 13.
Surf Club members were joined by local surfers, International Baccalaureate diploma candidates and members of the community as they collected trash at National Boulevard. Some of the trash will be repurposed by art students at the high school to create collages.
“This is a way for Long Beach students to give back to the community--both with the beach cleanup and through the creation of art using some of that discarded material,” said club advisor and surfing team coach Andrew Smith, who is also the high school IB program coordinator.
Within an hour the participants, wearing protective gloves, had accumulated dozens of bags of trash and debris. Art teacher Nora Bellsey was in charge of defining what refuse will be recycled by art students. The City of Long Beach will dispose of all the unusable waste material.
The Surf Club was formed to bring together students who love surfing, but also to share a commitment to protecting and preserving local oceans and shorelines, and to raise community awareness about environmental concerns. The Quiksilver Foundation and the Long Beach Surfers Association sponsored the event and provided the collection bags and t-shirts.
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