Getting City Kids to the Shore

The Takeaway: More than 10,000 kids see the beach for the first time and learn about coastal stewardship through this Coastal Management Program-funded effort.

It can be hard to believe, but there are children in coastal counties that have never experienced the feel of sand beneath their feet. This reality is an all-to-common occurrence in cities like Savannah, Georgia, where an experience-based program is teaching today’s at-risk grade school students to be tomorrow’s coastal stewards.

Over the past few years, more than 10,000 kindergarten through sixth-grade students have taken part in Sidewalk to the Sea: Connecting City Kids with Coastal and Offshore Environments. The popular program, funded by coastal zone management act grant, brings students to the coast and brings coastal data and information to the classroom, and in the end, creates responsible and knowledgeable stewards for the nation’s coastal environment. (2016)

Partners: Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resources Division, Tybee Island Marine Science Center, City of Savannah, Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, City of Tybee Island, Savannah State University, NOAA’s Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary