About
Kids Ocean Day and Education Programs include a beach cleanup, creating a giant aerial art message in the sand, and interactive assemblies on ocean pollution, conservation, and the interconnectivity of Southern California’s watersheds. In the weeks leading up to Kids Ocean Day 2025, Coastkeeper educators visited each participating school to lead these interactive assemblies, and at the event students removed 157 pounds of trash and formed a large-scale aerial art project reflecting the theme “Restore Power.” Over 1,000 students representing 14 elementary schools across Orange County participated in Kids Ocean Day 2025, including third through sixth-graders from Garden Grove, Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Orange, and Westminster, and each student participant will receive a postcard of the aerial art to remember the impact they made.
• Ages: 8–12 years old
Orange County Coastkeeper was founded in 1999, and Kids Ocean Day is now in its 18th year. Kids Ocean Day connects students from underserved communities to coastal education and environmental action, and engages students from communities that are especially vulnerable to environmental pollution and face disproportionate systemic barriers to coastal access. Orange County’s Kids Ocean Day is part of a statewide effort led by the California Coastal Commission, which coordinates Kids Ocean Day with proceeds from the Whale Tail® License Plate and voluntary donations on the California state tax return to the Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund, and Whale Tail® grants support events at beaches along the California coast in San Diego, Orange County, San Francisco, Bakersfield, and Humboldt County. Special thanks for Kids Ocean Day support go to the California Coastal Commission’s Whale Tail® Grants Program, Behr Paint Company, Kingston Technology, Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento (District 2), Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation, California Love Drop, Sur Coffee, Costco, Target, and Open Water.
The program is led by staff including Genesee Ouyang, education director at Orange County Coastkeeper; Dyana Peña, associate director of programs at Orange County Coastkeeper; and Annie Kohut Frankel, public education program manager for the California Coastal Commission. Orange County Coastkeeper’s mission is to protect swimmable, drinkable, fishable water and promote watershed resilience throughout the region. Organization-wide, the education programs have reached more than 75,000 students, removed over 200,000 pounds of trash, conducted more than 5,000 MPA Watch surveys, restored more than 17,500 square meters of eelgrass, and provided $475,000 for coastal accessibility projects. Orange County Coastkeeper is a recipient of GuideStar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency and carries a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
According to education director Genesee Ouyang, the 2025 theme focused on showing students that even small steps like picking up trash can create real change when they involve their community and focus on actions in their own neighborhoods. Associate director of programs Dyana Peña notes that after 18 years of hosting Kids Ocean Day, former student participants have returned through high school and college programs, and the event has inspired them to pursue environmental stewardship through high school programming and internships. California Coastal Commission public education program manager Annie Kohut Frankel states that the students are sending a powerful message about the need to protect and preserve the California coast and thanks them as coastal stewards.
Last updated July 8, 2026.
• Ages: 8–12 years old
Orange County Coastkeeper was founded in 1999, and Kids Ocean Day is now in its 18th year. Kids Ocean Day connects students from underserved communities to coastal education and environmental action, and engages students from communities that are especially vulnerable to environmental pollution and face disproportionate systemic barriers to coastal access. Orange County’s Kids Ocean Day is part of a statewide effort led by the California Coastal Commission, which coordinates Kids Ocean Day with proceeds from the Whale Tail® License Plate and voluntary donations on the California state tax return to the Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund, and Whale Tail® grants support events at beaches along the California coast in San Diego, Orange County, San Francisco, Bakersfield, and Humboldt County. Special thanks for Kids Ocean Day support go to the California Coastal Commission’s Whale Tail® Grants Program, Behr Paint Company, Kingston Technology, Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento (District 2), Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation, California Love Drop, Sur Coffee, Costco, Target, and Open Water.
The program is led by staff including Genesee Ouyang, education director at Orange County Coastkeeper; Dyana Peña, associate director of programs at Orange County Coastkeeper; and Annie Kohut Frankel, public education program manager for the California Coastal Commission. Orange County Coastkeeper’s mission is to protect swimmable, drinkable, fishable water and promote watershed resilience throughout the region. Organization-wide, the education programs have reached more than 75,000 students, removed over 200,000 pounds of trash, conducted more than 5,000 MPA Watch surveys, restored more than 17,500 square meters of eelgrass, and provided $475,000 for coastal accessibility projects. Orange County Coastkeeper is a recipient of GuideStar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency and carries a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
According to education director Genesee Ouyang, the 2025 theme focused on showing students that even small steps like picking up trash can create real change when they involve their community and focus on actions in their own neighborhoods. Associate director of programs Dyana Peña notes that after 18 years of hosting Kids Ocean Day, former student participants have returned through high school and college programs, and the event has inspired them to pursue environmental stewardship through high school programming and internships. California Coastal Commission public education program manager Annie Kohut Frankel states that the students are sending a powerful message about the need to protect and preserve the California coast and thanks them as coastal stewards.
Last updated July 8, 2026.
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