On Thursday, June 2, from 3:30 – 5:30pm, the MERITO Foundationwill award prizes to the top 12 teams of middle and high school students from Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties who authored energy efficiency or other sustainability project proposals for their school campuses at the Museum of Ventura County in downtown Ventura, CA. Glenn Hening, Founder of Surfrider Foundation will serve as keynote speaker at this inaugural event. Project sponsored by EPA, NOAA, NAAEE, MERITO Foundation and supported by 5 school districts including Fillmore Unified SD.

The awards ceremony and celebration will recognize the creativity, innovation, work and environmental stewardship of students and teachers participating in the EECCCOA (Energy Efficiency to Mitigate Climate Change and Ocean Acidification) program during the 2015-2016 school year. The top twelve project proposals that provide a plan to reduce the carbon footprint of their school campuses will be presented with cash and in-kind prizes for each student group.

The following schools will have students present or display their project proposals: Buena and Ventura High Schools (Ventura), Haydock Middle School (Oxnard), Fillmore High School (Fillmore),Santa Barbara High School (Santa Barbara), Anacapa Middle School (Ventura), and Rigethii High School (Santa Maria). Project proposals authored by the awarded students are innovative, realistic, and attainable according to each school campus needs and realities and when implemented will all make an environmental and economic difference.

About MERITO Foundation:
MERITO (Multicultural Education for Resources Issues Threatening Oceans) Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Ventura, CA, dedicated to protecting the ocean by facilitating education, conservation and scientific research opportunities to multicultural youth and their communities. MERITO strives to enhance ocean and climate science literacy among multicultural communities while supporting marine research and conservation in order to promote healthy ocean ecosystems and inspire the new generation of ocean professionals.
For more information, please visit www.meritofoundation.org

About EECCOA (Energy Efficiency to Mitigate Climate Change and Ocean Acidification) Program:
EECCOA is a project-based science education program of the MERITO Foundation that provides energy, climate and ocean literacy services and products to 8th – 12th grade teachers and their students. EECCOA empowers students to address climate change and ocean acidification by providing them the tools to research, design and innovate Energy Efficiency or other sustainability models their schools can adopt, or develop Ocean Acidification (OA) awareness campaigns that inform their communities.

For more information, please visit www.meritofoundation.org/services/eeccoa