O’Neill Sea Odyssey (OSO) served its 75,000th student during its afternoon class on Tuesday, December 3. A certificate was presented to teacher Stan Wyman and his 6th grade class from Bolsa Knolls School in Salinas after they boarded the Team O’Neill catamaran.
OSO does not know who the actual 75,000th student is but it does know that, thanks to precise numbers we must record for each class for our boat log that the 75,000th student was in Mr. Wyman’s class.
“We’re thrilled to reach this important milestone,” said OSO Executive Director Dan Haifley. “We teach science and math to students using the ocean as a classroom and as a result, they have the tools to be environmental stewards. A recent study indicated that 75% of our students retained stewardship values and knowledge they learned at O’Neill Sea Odyssey 5-7 years after they participated in our program.”
OSO engages 4th — 6th grade youth with a hands-on science education field trip on a 65-foot catamaran on Monterey Bay and in a shore-side education center, in addition to ocean science curriculum provided for use in the classroom. It is free, and each class completes a community service project.
Our mission is to provide a hands-on educational experience to encourage the protection and preservation of our living sea and communities.
OSO achieves educational standards using ocean concepts, while teaching youth about watersheds that flow to the sea and their responsibility to protect them. In 2004 OSO received the California Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award in Children’s Environmental Education and in 2005 Senator Barbara Boxer’s Environmental Champion award.
In 2009, the Adam Webster Memorial Fund received the Community Spinners award for its work with special needs youth. In 2013, the Silicon Valley Business Journal bestowed its Community Impact Award. A study of our long-term impact found that 75.1% of students who participated in OSO 5-7 years before had retained knowledge of material taught in the OSO curriculum, based on non-point source pollution.