Community and Equity – Goals With a Plan
The O’Neill Sea Odyssey Board and Staff have deepened our commitment to continue reducing barriers for 4th-6th grade students and increase student understanding of our coasts, oceans, and watersheds. As we grow and evolve, we endeavor to serve our teachers and students with a bilingual curriculum developed to educate and inspire the next generation of ocean advocates. Moving forward into a new year, we will continue to be in communication and collaboration with educators to ensure that we support teachers and school leadership to meet the needs of students of all backgrounds and abilities.
We are committed to:
- Recognizing the cultural and financial barriers that prevent many children and their families from accessing Monterey Bay.
- Facilitating free access to OSO programs for 4th-6th grade students from traditionally underserved and under-resourced communities.
- Providing free experiential ocean education on the Monterey Bay for young people living with disabilities, learning differences, and others through our Adam Webster Fund.
- Creating life-long impactful memories and spark a new generation of ocean-minded stewards
- Demonstrating that healthy ocean activities start at home, within watersheds, and along our coasts.
- Eliminate barriers to access through Transportation Scholarships to O’Neill Sea Odyssey.
- Empowering Teachers and students to take action and become agents of change at home with curriculum-complementary bilingual materials and support for student led community service projects.
“The ocean is alive, and we’ve got to take care of it. There is no doubt in my mind that the O’Neill Sea Odyssey is the best thing I’ve ever done.” – Jack O’Neill
Generations of Impact – Preparing Tomorrow’s Scientists and Citizens With Opportunities For the Future
We are thrilled that throughout the three decades we have served local students, many have taken time to communicate the impact of their OSO experience. It is particularly rewarding to hear from those who have gone on to pursue careers in science, advocacy, and education.
“I have carried the experiences, memories, and knowledge gained from the O’Neill Sea Odyssey with me for the last twenty-one years. What an impactful experience! I laugh when I recount how I feigned sea-sickness in order to munch on gingersnaps, and every time I’m on West Cliff, I recall what sea otters look like up close. The OSO’s message of ocean conservation has also remained at the forefront of my environmental consciousness…. What a gift these trips are to children who have limited opportunities outside of school. The opportunity provided by the O’Neill Sea Odyssey is truly a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience that has a positive impact on every participant. I consider myself extra lucky to add to my memories on the OSO with my own class. Our incredible ocean adventure on the O’Neill Sea Odyssey stands out as one of my favorite memories, and I am filled with gratitude to the donors and everyone in the organization who make it possible for students like mine (and myself!) to experience the full impact of our vast ocean.” Katie Scocroft – Previous OSO participant, current Santa Cruz Teacher
A cornerstone of the O’Neill Sea Odyssey experience is empowering our students with the tools and agency to determine how they want to share their transformative OSO experience with their community members. Our program is growing and evolving, and we work year-round to better serve teachers and students with a science-informed bilingual climate curriculum.
As we move forward into the future, the OSO team is working to update our unique role as a leader in local environmental and climate education, and to include new opportunities for volunteers and additional community connections. Your generous support today will allow us to continue to serve local students and our community.
A climate-resilient future depends on everyone in our community understanding that our health is related to ocean health. Together, we are ensuring a future with engaged youth who understand how together we can change the natural world. – Tracey Weiss, Executive Director OSO
Collaboration-Innovation-Service
About O’Neill Sea Odyssey
O’Neill Sea Odyssey provides free and transformative ocean-going educational experiences to students from diverse backgrounds, a majority are multilingual learners, underrepresented minorities, and socioeconomically disadvantaged. OSO endeavors to ignite students’ scientific curiosity and empowers them to take action to protect our oceans and watersheds. This year, the team at O’Neill Sea Odyssey has been able to serve students through ongoing community outreach and dynamic collaborations. Since founding O’Neill Sea Odyssey (OSO), our team has understood that collaboration is one of the best ways to meet our mission of helping young people make a life-long connection with the ocean. Many children grow up in our region with limited or no access to our beaches and ocean. This year, we accelerated our capacity, forming new partnerships to meet our goal of serving our region’s diverse student population. Through our ongoing dynamic partnerships with schools, community service organizations, and other agencies, we are helping young learners of all abilities establish an ocean connection, access hands-on experiential science education, and, through student-led community service projects, become empowered to help others learn to protect local watersheds and the Monterey Bay. In the coming year, we will continue to provide more children with our innovative science instruction, ocean access, and unique STEM-centered bilingual curriculum.
