During the last two months of our eighth-grade year, our class participated in Project Citizen, in which we chose a problem affecting our community, researched the issue, and tried to find a way to help solve the problem. We researched many topics such as gang violence, our sewage system, childhood obesity, and youth homelessness, but settled on marine debris. Marine debris impacts Hawai鈥榠鈥檚 citizens, the environment and economy in countless direct and indirect ways.

After much debate, we agreed that the ban on plastic bags would help to reduce the amount of marine debris more than any other alternative solution. Since we live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we are surrounded by marine life and fragile ecosystems. By littering and dumping debris and plastic bags in our unique and gorgeous oceans, we have endangered the lives of native species like the honu (sea turtle), nai鈥榓 (dolphin), and moli (Laysan albatross.)

Plastic bags are photodegradable, which means that they break down into microscopic pieces, but they never fully degrade. This is extremely deleterious to our 鈥榓ina because in our near future, Hawai鈥榠鈥檚 landfills will overflow with the excess amounts of plastic that we produce and use. That plastic trash will somehow end up in our oceans, where marine life ingest it and absorb the lethal chemicals that leach from the bags while they float in the ocean. The chemicals and plastics may move up the food chain and eventually find their way into humans.

We did research on the topic, watched educational videos and went on a field trip to Maunalua Bay and the Waikiki Aquarium. Guest speakers came and talked with us about the growing problem of marine debris. Kaniela Lyman-Mersereau, a volunteer for Project Kaisei, a nonprofit committed to finding solutions to marine debris, spoke to us about limiting our purchase of items whose containers will end up as trash. We also heard a presentation by Joel Paschal, who sailed from California to Hawai鈥榠 on a raft named 鈥淛unk,鈥� which was made of recycled plastic bottles and other marine debris items. While the purpose of his voyage was to raise awareness about the problem, we learned that plastic bags and bottles could be put to interesting uses. He also opened our eyes to how much plastic trash was really out there in the world鈥檚 environment.

Our science teacher Mrs. Shimabuku provided us with the opportunity to see dissected albatross birds that have been affected by marine debris. Their dissected stomachs, or boluses, were full of plastic debris, showing us how plastic was able to kill animals. This was a great hands-on learning experience for all of us.

To help solve this problem, our class decided to support SB1370, which required businesses to distribute biodegradable and compostable bags. Unfortunately, after writing letters of support to the state senators voting on this bill, the senators responded that SB1370 was not moving forward in the 2012 session. We then supported HB1601, which was a complete ban on plastic bags in Hawai鈥檌. We made display boards, a Keynote presentation, and a portfolio about our chosen policy, alternative policies and our solution to the marine debris problem and gave presentations to governmental representatives.

Our class鈥檚 personal solution to this problem of marine debris was to hold a bake sale to raise funds to adopt endangered marine animals from the Hawai鈥榠 Wildlife Fund. The Fund will use the money to protect our adopted animals from marine debris and to clean Hawai鈥榠鈥檚 beaches so that fewer animals become injured and die due to debris. We held the sale at lunch one day, and raised enough money to adopt to adopt two humpback whales, two Hawksbill turtles, two monk seals and a Hawai鈥榠 coral reef!

On behalf of the whole class, we would like to thank Mrs. Anderson for all of her efforts and support throughout this project. She has helped us and guided us throughout this learning process and without her we would never have experienced this wonderful opportunity. Thank you very much, Mrs. Anderson!

Read related stories:

• Punahou Project Citizen 鈥� Develop No More On Our North Shore
• Punahou Project Citizen: Saving Coral is Our Moral

About the Authors: The class is an eighth-grade class of Leah Anderson, social studies teacher and coordinator for the local chapter of Project Citizen.

, a national curricular program from the is a curricular program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students, youth organizations, and adult groups that promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government. The program helps participants learn how to monitor and influence public policy. In the process, they develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy.

The Project Citizen program is administered with the assistance of a national network of state and congressional district coordinators in every state and is conducted with the assistance of the National Conference of State Legislatures. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and by act of Congress. Additional funding at the state level is also provided by an increasing number of state legislatures.

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This year, Mrs. Anderson鈥檚 Social Studies class participated in Project Citizen, an activity in which we learn about important issues and about things that directly impact our community and ourselves.鈥ㄢ��

Although we were presented with many possible problems to investigate, our class ultimately decided on the issue of overdevelopment primarily on the North Shore. We believe that the North Shore is one of the most beautiful places on our island and that we must 鈥淜eep the Country Country.鈥� Not only would an increase in construction destroy our beautiful views and urbanize O鈥榓hu鈥檚 last primarily rural land, it would also impact our environment. Additional development would greatly affect our ecosystems and our native species.

To battle this growing problem on Hawai鈥榠, our class worked very hard to become educated on this issue and attempted to create a solution. We visited Maunalua Bay and the H-Power plant in Campbell Industrial Park to learn how overdevelopment is affecting our island. Our class was also visited by important figures who spoke to us about their views on this issue, including State Representative Gil Riviere of the North Shore and John White, executive director of Pacific Resource Partnership, an advocacy organization for unionized construction. 鈥�

As a class we decided that we should: first, oppose SB755, a bill that proposed to promote economic development by temporarily removing regulatory restrictions to the expeditious construction of state and county project; secondly, propose to limit the amount of permits given out per year for development on the North Shore. We opposed SB755 because we believe that environmental impact statements must be filed for all potential construction projects. Each of us wrote letters to members of the State Legislature and Honolulu City Council about the policies that deal with overdevelopment.

Many organizations and people support our proposed policy and action plans. Some of those organizations include Keep the Country Country, Defend O鈥榓hu Coalition, and Sierra Club 鈥� Hawai鈥榠 Chapter. Individuals such as Gil Riviere and State Senator Jill Tokuda also opposed SB755. One good thing that happened in the middle of our project was that SB755鈥檚 progress through the Hawai鈥榠 State Legislature ceased. 聽We hope our letters of opposition helped make this a reality.

To help raise awareness, we created a Facebook page in order to gather support for our cause. It displayed everything we are dealing with and the things we are trying to do to help get as many people involved with our cause. We鈥檝e tried to spread it by sharing it with our friends and family.鈥ㄢ�∣verall as a class we learned a lot of skills and lessons from each other because we were all working together toward the same goal. We feel we created a great presentation on the issue and a convincing proposal to limit the development on O鈥榓hu鈥檚 North Shore.

About the Authors: The class is an eighth-grade class of Leah Anderson, social studies teacher and coordinator for the local chapter of Project Citizen.

, a national curricular program from the is a curricular program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students, youth organizations, and adult groups that promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government. The program helps participants learn how to monitor and influence public policy. In the process, they develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy.

The Project Citizen program is administered with the assistance of a national network of state and congressional district coordinators in every state and is conducted with the assistance of the National Conference of State Legislatures. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and by act of Congress. Additional funding at the state level is also provided by an increasing number of state legislatures.

The post Punahou Project Citizen 鈥� Develop No More On Our North Shore appeared first on 天美视频.

During our eighth-grade year, our social studies class took part in Project Citizen, an endeavor none of us were familiar with. Project Citizen involved picking a problem we thought was important, creating a public policy and taking action.

This was something new 鈥� not only did we have to research our problem we had to actually do something about it. This was an opportunity for us to impact our community for the better.鈥�

We took a poll and decided on coral reef destruction, a problem all of us agreed urgently needs to be fixed. Next, our class was divided into four groups: the problem-definition group, alternative-policy group, class-policy group, and action-plan group. We all worked hard and brought our efforts together into one presentation, which we practiced for days. We gave this presentation to people with the authority and power to do something about it, such as members of the Hawai鈥榠 State Senate and House. This way, we could actually influence members鈥� decisions.

There are many reasons why we chose this problem, including tourism, our marine ecosystem and medical research. Coral reefs help support a thriving snorkeling and scuba diving industry, a major industry that provides money for Hawai鈥榠’s economy. Approximately 300 visitors go to Hanauma Bay each day, paying an entrance fee of $7.50 each, which adds up to $22,500 in annual revenue. Also, our marine ecosystem could be permanently damaged if our coral reefs are destroyed. Coral reefs provide a home to more than 25 percent of the ocean’s species. Without reefs, many creatures wouldn鈥檛 have a place to live and thrive, and would become endangered.

Lastly, we need to protect Hawai鈥榠’s coral reefs because coral is used in a variety of medical research. For example, by using the limestone structure of coral for bone grafts in humans, the coral acts as a scaffold on which healing takes place. It has been proven that using coral for grafts results in significantly lower rejection rates than using artificial materials. This shows how big a role coral reefs play in all of our lives.

Currently, the Hawai鈥榠 state government has only a few public policies specifically against coral reef destruction. These laws do very little to regulate this issue because coral reef destruction is so hard to monitor. We must change that now. We ultimately decided to propose as our class policy that all inbound flights to Hawai鈥榠 show an informative video illustrating the importance of coral reefs. Our class felt that by educating tourists, who are likely to visit local coral reefs, we could improve the health of our reefs.聽Adults and kids would learn about why coral reefs affect everyone and why we need them to be preserved.

The branch of government that deals with this problem is the legislative branch. Under Executive Order 13089, Hawai鈥榠驶s Department of Land and Natural Resources would carry out this policy. The department strives 鈥�…to enhance, protect, conserve and manage Hawai鈥榠驶s unique and limited natural, cultural, and historic resources held in public trust for current and future generations of visitors and the people of Hawaii nei in partnership with others from the public and private sectors.鈥� This policy and our video would follow these guidelines and make our coral reefs better protected.

We put together a presentation on our research and proposal, and invited members of the State House and Senate to hear our ideas. Students also wrote a letters to their respective district senators and representatives to support a bill of their choice that would help preserve coral reefs.

There are many people and organizations that supported us in what we鈥檙e trying to do, including Eyes of the Reef, Waikiki Reef Watch and Reef Check Hawai鈥榠. The purpose of these groups is to raise awareness about the scale of the problem and encourage individuals and governmental agencies to do something about it. Also, many people like Dr. Robert Richmond, a professor at the University of Hawai鈥榠 specializing in coral research, supported our policy and action plan. Dr. Richmond taught us a lot about coral reefs and led a field trip for our class to Maunalua Bay and the Waikiki Aquarium.

All in all, we accomplished and learned a lot through this project, not only about coral reefs and about the governmental process but about teamwork, participation and working together to reach a common goal. We all put a lot of time and effort into this project and it showed in our final presentation. Still, there is a lot more that could be done. We need more government involvement, the support of environmental groups and the help of all ocean users to really save our coral reefs.

Reflections

Project Citizen was a great experience. Not only did it teach me about the way our government works and how we can make a difference in the community, but also how to work as a team toward one common goal. I was a leader in my group, so I had to manage my team to make sure we all stayed on task and focused. This was a challenge at some times, but overall, we cooperated very well and created something that could make a difference in our local and national communities. 鈥擪测濒颈别

Project Citizen was awesome. it taught me a lot about government and also taught me how to try handle and tackle problems. I also was able to work with other people, which was good because skills like this are needed in life. 鈥擟补苍诲补肠别鈥�

It felt good to give back to the community. I liked being creative and collaborating with group members. It inspired me to go and volunteer in the community and to be more aware of the environment. 鈥拟颈办补测濒补

About the Authors: The class is an eighth-grade class of Leah Anderson, social studies teacher and coordinator for the local chapter of Project Citizen.

, a national curricular program from the is a curricular program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students, youth organizations, and adult groups that promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government. The program helps participants learn how to monitor and influence public policy. In the process, they develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy.

The Project Citizen program is administered with the assistance of a national network of state and congressional district coordinators in every state and is conducted with the assistance of the National Conference of State Legislatures. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and by act of Congress. Additional funding at the state level is also provided by an increasing number of state legislatures.

The post Punahou Project Citizen: Saving Coral is Our Moral appeared first on 天美视频.

This year our class was able to take part in Project Citizen, a challenge very different from our usual assignments. We weren’t just dealing with something involving our class, but with something that could change our local communities and possibly impact our state, nation and world.

We first spent a few days researching various problems we saw in our community and presenting our topics to each other. We then voted and narrowed the topics down to the one we felt most strongly about, which was plastic bags. For us plastic bags are a problem we encounter locally almost every day. To many around the world, Hawai鈥榠 seems like the perfect paradise, but plastic bags are hurting our fragile island environment. The unsustainable bags are given by various supermarkets, stores, and restaurants in excess, and many end up polluting and destroying our surroundings.

One of the main reasons why plastic bags are so detrimental to our ‘aina is that they are photodegradable and never completely decompose鈥攖he sun just breaks them down into smaller pieces and their mass stays the same. Plastic bags and their component pieces are filling our landfills and finding their way into our ocean. In the ocean, marine life such as our dolphin and native honu mistake plastic bags for food or toys and end up eating the toxic material and dying. The chemicals from the bags, like PCB, can even find their way into our food. The production of plastic bags uses much of our earth’s natural resources and produces pollution. For example, oil is used to make and distribute plastic bags, so by reducing our state’s use of them, we could save more than 4 million gallons of oil per year.

Currently, the Hawai鈥榠 state government has no public policy specifically against plastic bags; just normal littering laws. We must change that now, in order to save our islands from plastic pollution.

Our class considered a few alternative policies to our main solution, one of which was a plastic bag Hi-5, where customers would be charged an extra five cents for each plastic bag they receive. In order to get the five cents back, they would need to take the bags to a recycling center. After the bags were collected, they would be melted down and re-made into plastic bags or other materials. Another alternative we came up with was charging a small fee for each plastic bag, similar to China’s policy, which could help reduce the number of plastic bags used and boost our economy. We also came up with an alternative policy of requiring the distribution of only biodegradable bags in Hawaii.

We ultimately decided to propose as our class policy a statewide plastic bag ban, similar to the ones currently in place on the islands of Maui and Kauai. Our class felt that by banning the distribution of plastic bags, we could effectively and aggressively put a stop to the high consumption rates in our state, and the ban would eventually result in a healthier ocean and cleaner air quality. A statewide ban could greatly reduce the amount of plastic going into our landfills, which would help us manage the amount of trash filling our finite island space.

We put together a presentation on our research and proposal, and invited members of the State House and Senate to hear our ideas. Every student also wrote a letter to respective district senators and representatives to support SB 1059, a statewide plastic bag ban. We contacted Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann and North Kona Councilman Angel Pilago, who both supported SB 1059. Sadly, SB 1059 died because the House Environment Committee didn’t schedule it for a hearing.

There are many organizations, groups, and individuals who support our proposed policy and action plan. Some of these groups are the Surfrider Foundation, Kanu Hawai鈥榠, and the Conservation Council for Hawai鈥榠, which all supported SB 1059. Also, individuals such as Scott Higgins of the Hawai鈥榠 Natural Energy Institute; Rachel Harvey of Plastic Free Kailua; and Joy Leilei Shih, a biogeochemist graduate student researcher; supported SB 1059. Our class worked to gain the support of other organizations, groups and individuals.

We created and manned a booth at Punahou School’s 2011 Sustainability Fair, where we gave out reused plastic bag jewelry and raised awareness about the problem of plastic bags and the need for a statewide ban. At the booth, we collected petition signatures for a plastic bag ban to combine with a petition from the Surfrider Foundation.

In total, our whole class learned how to work as a team towards one common goal. Our final Project Citizen presentation was a reflection of everyone’s talents, hard work and care for our community. Hopefully our strong support for a statewide plastic bag ban will initiate a new bill to be introduced in the 2012 legislative session.

Reflections on Project Citizen

Project Citizen has inspired me to get involved in government. I used to think that the government was a big industrial company who was too busy to talk to. But by calling and meeting with our district representatives and agencies, I learned that there are many parts of the government that need citizen involvement in order to keep functioning honestly. The most important idea I learned was that citizens can make a difference in government if they want to but that you have to work like crazy to do so. 鈥擟补谤辞濒测苍

Creating a public policy requires a lot of research on the problem, its effect on our community, and how it is and could be handled. It also requires collaboration with others for different perspectives and ideas on dealing with the issue. You also must think through the various effects your policy would have and who would support and oppose it. However, I also learned that we, as citizens, can really be involved in our government and suggest changes in our community. 鈥擫颈产产测

I learned that public policies are really hard to make, and to have them passed into law, is even harder. The policy would have to pass through all of government, and trust me it is hard. SB1059, which was a bill on banning plastic bags, died because the house environment committee forgot to schedule it for a hearing. Seriously, if bills die because people forget to schedule them, then imagine how many policies are submitted and die. That must be a LOT of policies. 鈥拟颈肠丑补别濒

Project Citizen has been a long, hard process. The problem we chose was plastic bags because it is harming our marine life and environment. We also chose this because we are in the middle of the ocean and, since the bags fly into the ocean, we are directly affected by it. Coming up with ideas to solve this problem was not easy. What I learned about public policies from this experience was that it takes a ton of planning and hard work to figure out ways to solve a community problem. My classmates learned more about plastic bags and about how serious a problem it really is. Overall, Project Citizen was a unique experience that taught us in ways that we had to teach ourselves and it put us in the position of social activists, not just middle school students. 鈥擭辞别

About the Authors: The class is an eighth-grade class of Leah Anderson, social studies teacher and coordinator for the local chapter of Project Citizen.

, a national curricular program from the , is a curricular program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students, youth organizations, and adult groups that promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state government. The program helps participants learn how to monitor and influence public policy. In the process, they develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy.

The Project Citizen program is administered with the assistance of a national network of state and congressional district coordinators in every state and is conducted with the assistance of the National Conference of State Legislatures. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and by act of Congress. Additional funding at the state level is also provided by an increasing number of state legislatures.

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