Last Saturday, our SLV ROV team joined Save Our Shores for a beach cleanup at New Brighton State Beach. The numbers tell part of the story: 212 pounds of trash collected, 26 hours of student community service, 14 students and 12 adults working together. But the real impact was in the conversations and connections that happened between picking up cigarette butts and plastic bottles.

More Than Environmental Service

Our ROV students represented about 75% of the volunteers that morning, turning what could have been a small cleanup into a significant community effort. Watching middle schoolers work alongside high school students and adults, all focused on a shared mission, reminded me why service learning is such a powerful part of education.

The students took ownership immediately. They strategized about which areas to tackle first, competed good-naturedly over who could fill their bags fastest, and helped each other navigate the rockier sections of the beach. What started as an assignment became genuine engagement with environmental stewardship.

Building Community Through Service

One of our goals in forming a Lions Leo Club through our ROV program was to instill the value of service in students. Service hours are important, but service attitude is transformational. Saturday morning showed both in action.

Students who might not normally work together found themselves as teammates. Shy students discovered leadership voices. Parents saw their children taking initiative and problem-solving collaboratively. The shared work created bonds that extend far beyond the beach.

The Ocean Connection

For students building underwater robots designed to monitor ocean health, cleaning up beach trash wasn’t abstract community service - it was personal. They’re learning to design ROVs that can assess marine ecosystems and help create “the ocean we need for the future we want.” Seeing firsthand the human impact on those same waters made their technical work feel more urgent and meaningful.

Several students commented on the amount of microplastics mixed in with the sand and seaweed. Others were surprised by how much trash had accumulated in areas that looked clean from a distance. These observations sparked discussions about human impact, ocean currents, and the engineering challenges of cleaning up pollution once it’s in marine ecosystems.

Service as Learning

The best service projects teach as much as they serve. Our students learned about environmental impact, community organizing, and the satisfaction that comes from improving something bigger than yourself. They also learned that meaningful work often involves tasks that aren’t glamorous but are necessary.

Perhaps most importantly, they experienced how a small group of committed people can make a tangible difference. In a world where environmental challenges can feel overwhelming, 212 pounds of trash removed by 26 volunteers is proof that individual action matters.

Sometimes the most important lessons happen when you’re elbow-deep in seaweed, working alongside others who care about the same things you do. ♻️