After a very successful fundraising event with Academy Award Winning documentary director Louie Psihoyos on May 19, Teens4Oceans attended the Blue Vision Summit in Washington, DC. As a Colorado coalition, Trevor Mendelow and his students (Allison Kolberg, Addy Wagner, Nate Newman, Jack Turnage, Liz Beaver, and Jason Brody) were part of a lobbying effort at Capitol Hill Ocean Day on May 23.
The students attended seminars hosted by the Blue Vision summit several days preceding the lobbying effort, where they met marine advocates, non-profit leaders, and local community organizers. The seminars exposed the students to the desperate circumstances of our ocean resources. Teens4Oceans also connected with some inspirational students at an experiential school in New York called The Harbor School. At least one of The Harbor School students will be accompanying the Kent Denver group this summer on a webcam installation at the Aquarius facility in Florida. During the Capitol Hill Ocean Day, students also met with staffers of Senate and House of Representatives legislators. The trip offered a unique opportunity for Kent Denver participants in Teens4Oceans to become involved in the legislative process and contact organizations with similar objectives.