NOAA’s Marine Debris Program is excited to announce the first annual Marine Debris Challenge for high school students in Ohio’s Ninth Congressional District!  The contest is open to all students in grades 9-12 who are enrolled in recognized public, private, and home schools in Ohio Congressional District 9.  Students must work in groups of 3 to 30 to create a public service announcement to help raise awareness of marine debris. Prizes include a trip to Cedar Point, a field trip to Stone Lab, and more!  To learn more about the contest, visit: http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/outreach/communicating-clean-future-ohio-congressional-district-9-marine-debris-challenge.

Communication is key when reaching people about the issue of Marine Debris. Who better to communicate that then the youth of our nation?  The timing of this announcement is perfect for groups that just participated in Clean Your Streams as they can use their firsthand experience of collecting trash for this project. Even if groups didn’t do Clean Your Streams this year, they can do another cleanup of their own as inspiration with our Clean Your Streams 365 kits. Borrow a kit and you can clean a local site on your own time. This opportunity is also great for teens and their class who love technology and want their voice to be heard.  Partners for Clean Streams is happy to be a resource for ideas, stream cleanup data, and other marine debris information for all those participating.