Edna Maguire Students Clean Beach, Form Bat Ray

The entire fourth grade at headed to San Francisco’s Ocean Beach earlier this month to participate in the 18th annual Kids' Adopt-a-Beach Cleanup. In doing so, they joined more than 500 elementary school students from around the Bay Area to arrange themselves into the form of a giant talking bat ray and spell out the words "Turn the tide” as a helicopter flew overhead and a photographer captured the design.

But to hear Edna Maguire fourth grade teacher Michael Stachon tell it, the 84 students might’ve been more impressed by the objects they cleaned up than the bat ray they formed.

“The kids were most impressed by how many nails they found on the beach,” Stachon said. “They were amazed at all the different kinds of things we came across – from nails to cigarette butts.”

The event, which was organized by the Richardson Bay Audubon Society and Sanctuary in Tiburon, delivered a larger message to the students about their day-to-day habits and how it impacts the watershed.

“They made it clear why it’s so important to pick up your trash and how everything impacts the watershed because the watershed is all around us,” Stachon said. “The kids got to see the impacts of even just leaving your trash bag after having lunch.”

Audubon Center education director Wendy Dalia, who is also the parent of an Edna Maguire student, said students consistently seem to enjoy the annual beach cleanup, which has been held in San Francisco for the last 11 years.

"They learn how, even if they live miles and miles away from the beach, they're all connected to the beach through watersheds," Dalia said. "Everything they do helps protect the beach."

The students also learned that the littlest pieces of trash are most harmful to wildlife because the smaller items are mistaken for food.

"Little stuff can work its way all the way up the food chain," Dalia said.

The cleanups are funded by the California Coastal Commission in advance of World Oceans Day on June 8.

Dalia said this year's photograph is meant to communicate to the public that it's possible to keep the ocean clean, particularly if people think about the products they're using.

"When you buy single-use items, you're basically buying trash," she said.

The center recommends drinking from reusable water bottles, using reusable bags, and avoiding Styrofoam.

The Edna Maguire students were joined by students from Sunset Elementary and Ulloa Elementary schools in San Francisco, Bahia Vista Elementary in San Rafael and Willow Creek Academy in Sausalito.

--Bay City News Service contributed to this report.