2020 Winners

Congratulations to our 2020 Educator Innovation Award winners! We are thrilled to recognize the following teachers who, no matter where in the world they live, effectively used the 2020 Ocean Awareness Contest in their classrooms to educate their students about the climate crisis and its impact on oceans, and empowered them to explore solutions and to create work that demonstrates hope in action.

Thank you for your commitment, flexibility, and passion, especially with the extraordinary challenges you faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic!

Kristin Abt

Biology & English Teacher, Student Service-Learning Program Advisor
Sampoerna Academy Medan (Indonesia)

Kristin, who is passionate about providing students with real-world ways to get involved in conservation issues, found the Contest to be a special interdisciplinary opportunity to combine language skills, science concepts, and the arts—no matter which subject she was teaching. All of her students found the Contest theme to be particularly relevant to their home country, one of the largest archipelagos in the world with more than 17,500 islands. Kristin worked with other teachers in her school to recognize student projects through an internal awards process before students submitted their work to Bow Seat.

“No matter what level or subject I teach, I love encouraging students to make links between topics learned in class and their environment. As Indonesian citizens, my students can be changemakers on the pressing issues of plastic pollution, overfishing, climate change, and habitat degradation facing the archipelago. My hope is that this exposure to ocean activism will ignite their passion to work for a sustainable and beautiful country.”

Sarah Cadogan

Head of Art
Riverside School Prague (Czech Republic)

Being based in a landlocked city, Sarah recognized that it was difficult for her students to connect with ocean issues, but she wanted to encourage them to be more mindful of global concerns. In her first year as Head of Art, Sarah created a curriculum centered around the Contest theme that her team could incorporate into its classes. She also dedicated the school’s Annual Art Week to ocean awareness. This included cross-curricular instruction where all of the subject heads committed two periods to teaching about related issues: for example, Computer Science classes took part in an augmented reality/virtual reality experience to highlight the need for conservation; Science classes watched the documentary A Plastic Ocean and conducted water-testing activities.

“I wanted my students to take part in something that not only was visual but would empower their future selves and how they see the world around them. The creative thinking we use in art is the same thinking we need to find solutions to these pressing environmental issues. This year’s theme was fantastic to work with and brought so many innovative ideas into our school.”

Marisa Maré

Head of Visual Arts
Redhill School (South Africa)

Marisa, a second-time Educator Innovation Awardee, has brought the Contest into her classroom for many years. She deliberately plans for her students to engage in the Contest at least once in their three years of art studies, as she believes it offers a valuable educational opportunity to critically consider the environmental crises that our world is facing. Her students’ artwork is reproduced into stickers, tote bags, and pencil cases, and they are sold at the school’s annual arts festival to spread awareness of ocean issues. While the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting school lockdown certainly proved challenging to navigate, Marisa leveraged Bow Seat’s resources to enhance her students’ learning experience and used the public health crisis to spur discussion about interrelated environmental issues.

“I have noticed the shift in the hearts and minds of my students when using their creativity for environmental activism. It is encouraging to see my students take ownership of these ocean and environmental issues and use their creative voices as an instrument of change. The Contest also offered an opportunity for my students to be global citizens and to show their work to an international audience. They feel empowered to know that they are part of a group of youths, globally, that passionately voices its concerns for our oceans and planet. It excites and motivates them tremendously when they realise that other creatives of their age are also fighting to protect our oceans.”

Allison Seitz

Language Arts Teacher
LaSalle Springs Middle School (Missouri, United States)

Allison faced the same challenges as every other teacher this past spring: How do I teach from home and continue to be effective? How do I use technology to support students? How can I keep them motivated to learn when the world is turned upside down? Allison decided to bring the Contest to her students because she knew they were interested in environmental topics, and she hoped that the program’s competitive nature and the diverse choices to apply their creative skills would keep them interested during remote learning. Every week for six weeks, Allison gave her students assignments based on Bow Seat’s resources as well as other articles, all which led to the creation of student projects that capitalized on their individual talents.

“Bow Seat’s online resources are unmatched in terms of supporting teachers with ideas and students with real-world learning—even from a landlocked state! Students absolutely loved all of the options Bow Seat offered from writing to art, but the technology-based categories really provided them an opportunity to plug into their ‘techie’ talents.”

2020 Bay State Educator Award

This special recognition celebrates a teacher who exemplifies creativity and stewardship in their work with young people in Massachusetts. The award package includes a $500 classroom grant.

Erin Grocki

Art Teacher
Swampscott High School (Massachusetts, United States)

For Erin, the Contest brings many educational elements into the classroom: it helps her teach her students art skills and encourages self-expression, and it is a starting point for meaningful conversations about the world and what her students care about. It challenges them to create something meaningful, and gives them a sense of accomplishment.

Teaching virtually last spring was a challenge because many of Erin’s students did not have access to art supplies. As Erin begins the new academic year remotely again, she plans to use the classroom grant to put together art supply bags for each of her students, so that they feel empowered to create meaningful artwork that helps them though these uncertain times.

“As an art teacher, I always encourage my students to use their talents to create a voice. The Ocean Awareness Contest has enabled my students to use their creative and artistic abilities to become a part of a larger fight for our environment. Channeling their vision, my students learn to creatively communicate their fears, hopes, and solutions to bring awareness to real issues.”