MERITO Academy in support of the
Oxnard Beautification Project
The MERITO Foundation is working with seventeen (17) 4th-12th grade teachers and/or after-school educators from schools in the City of Oxnard as part of the MERITO Academy program, in support of the Oxnard Beautification Project.
The MERITO Foundation is leading the 'Youth Education & Engagement' component of the large "Oxnard Beautification Project", an initiative of the City of Oxnard, by involving educators and their students in the restoration and revitalization of their nearby community parks.
Through the MERITO Academy Program, this project provides in-school and outdoor environmental education for the participating students, meaningful hands-on experiences at or by the ocean, opportunities for the students to restore their community park, assist in their design as outdoor classrooms, and enter a competition; "The Beautiful Oxnard Challenge", with award stipends for the winners of the best art or multimedia projects that educate and encourage others to reduce litter, prevent urban runoff and care for their parks.
What does the OBP provide to Teachers and Students?
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Access to MERITO Foundation’s educational resources
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Professional Development training on the use of curricula, in-field monitoring & lectures from expert guest scientists, as well as a one-day professional development session at Santa Cruz Island.
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Stipends for fully participating teachers
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Funding for students’ bus transportation to field experience locations.
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Tools for students’ environmental data collection
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Bilingual in-class or virtual environmental lectures and educational activities provided by MERITO Foundation
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Bilingual outdoor environmental education experiences at their parks, city beaches, wetlands, and recycling center including park cleanup and planting events
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Participation in the design and restoration of their park with support from MERITO Foundation staff, the City of Oxnard Public Works, and a landscape architectural design firm.
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Live & virtual mentorship for students on best practices for creating and designing impactful projects through the Beautiful Oxnard Challenge.
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Cash prizes by entering the ‘Beautiful Oxnard Challenge’ and winning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place with their projects of 1) Media Campaigns (photography, infographics, video or podcast), or 2) Artwork (paintings or drawings). All with messages that persuade, educate, and inspire the community to not litter and care for their community parks.
The result of this initiative is the involvement of students in their community park's restoration, beautification, and long-term conservation while learning about the ocean and environmental science topics to support their end-of-year projects that inspire and educate their communities to care for their local parks.
What is the Goal of this Project?
For youth in the City of Oxnard to learn and experience how to prevent urban runoff pollution from reaching the ocean by taking part in the restoration and beautification of their community park, and through meaningful hands-on experiences to community parks for clean-up and planting, to beaches, wetlands, or rivers for environmental activities.
"Beautiful Oxnard Challenge"
The Beautiful Oxnard Challenge was an end-of-year competition for students enrolled in the Oxnard Beautification Project to create art or multimedia projects that persuade, educate, and inspire the community to not litter and care for their community parks. The students used what they learned from their in-class presentations and hands-on field experiences in their projects to create well-informed and effective messaging.
Close to 150 students from 8 schools in the City of Oxnard submitted outreach projects as part of the Beautiful Oxnard Challenge. The projects were reviewed and graded by a panel of judges and winners were selected.
The challenge finalists, their families, teachers, and school administrators were invited to attend the challenge’s awards ceremony on May 29th, 2024 where the top projects and honorable mention awards were announced. We were honored to have City of Oxnard Mayor, John C. Zaragoza, join us in congratulating the students and emphasizing the importance of giving the youth a voice and empowering them and their efforts. The event was a successful celebration of the students’ hard work and their commitment to improving our public spaces and creating a greener, cleaner, better future.
Designated Community Parks
Beck Park
Lemonwood Park
Del Sol Park
Thompson Park
Kohala Park
Marina West Park
Durley Park
Community Center East Park
Lathrop Park
For more information, email rocio.lozano@meritofoundation.org, or call our offices at 805-765-6326