Kids learn a little during beach cleanup

Bryce Alderton

Clouds dissipated, leaving blue skies and calm waters as seven

children from the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach picked up everything

from cigarette butts to plastic cups from Diver’s Cove and areas of

Heisler Park this week.

Teens from the club’s Keystone Program organized Wednesday’s beach

cleanup day with National Youth Service Day in mind, said Lisa Schoenle,

director of teen services for the club.

More than 3-million kids were expected to participate in thousands of

service events nationwide as part of National Youth Service Day.

“I love field trips, they’re so fun,” Schoenle said, reaching down to

pick up a piece of a Styrofoam cup from the sand. “[Children] get to get

outside and get away, and they’re willing to participate in activities.”

Thurston Middle School student Lisa Avila, 13, has been involved with

the Boys & Girls Club since she was in the fourth grade. Now an

eighth-grader, she welcomed the chance to get outside and put on the

latex gloves to pick up unwanted debris.

“I’m an environmental person, I hate wasting paper,” Avila said.

“There’s a lot of trash on the beach, so I’m happy to make a difference.”

Some children had to dig under the sand or lift up a piece of dried

seaweed to find pieces of shattered glass, but they shouted out loud when

they found a piece.

“I found a bottle,” said 11-year-old Chanel Brooks, a sixth-grader

from Thurston Middle School, while holding up a glass bottle.

The seven children in grades six through nine said they learned

something during the beach cleanup.

“Every cigarette butt I pick up saves one fish,” said 12-year-old

Ashley Garcia, smiling as she combed the sand for cigarette butts.

The Boys & Girls Club offers programs for youth ages 6 to 18 that

include tutoring and homework help in the club’s Learning Center, sports

leagues for girls and boys and art classes.

Schoenle oversees the Keystone Program, the goal of which is to mold

teens into responsible, civic-minded adults and focuses on service to

others through planned activities.