Lennon's Scuba Adv to Replant Coral

I was accepted into The Colorado Coralition ! I will be deep sea scuba certified and work for the next 9 months preparing to replant coral reef off the coast of Key Largo, Fl. To learn more read below and be sure to check out the program’s website! I am one of twenty 7th-11th graders participating in the program this year. I feel very happy I was chosen!  

https://spark.adobe.com/page/GreDo3zPQVV70/

Why I love the Ocean and Why this is important to me:  

I am so excited that I got this opportunity to go scuba diving in Key Largo and plant coral in the ocean! This opportunity means so much to me because I care about the health of the ocean. This is my chance to make a difference to the ocean and the ocean life. It makes me so happy that I am doing something that is saving life and parts of the ocean. I fell in love with the ocean in the summer of 2017. My Grandma and Grandpa took me on a trip to Florida. It was the second time I had been to the ocean but the first time I remember and really experienced it. It was so special to me because I loved playing in the ocean and riding the waves onto the beach on a boogie board. Another wonderful memory I have was just this past summer when me, my family, Big Daddy, and Dee-Dee went snorkeling in Key West and we saw a lot of Stingrays. When we were back on the boat after snorkeling, some people said that they saw Reef Sharks so we were literally swimming with sharks! Another reason why this opportunity means so much to me is that I get to help make the ocean healthier by replanting coral in dead coral reefs. Planting more coral reefs will make the population of the coral go up so there will be more coral reefs in the ocean. Believe it or not but coral actually produces oxygen so some of the air you are breathing right now could have been produced by coral. Coral also provides a home to a lot of animals. Some of the fish are losing their homes because of us humans and I will do my part to help fix this. Coral is dying because of global warming and global warming is caused by us and the energies that we use. Greenhouse gas is one of the reasons global warming is happening. We can use different energies that do not cause global warming such as renewable energies including solar panels, wind turbines, and much, much more. I am super excited to go help the ocean life. If I can’t be a professional soccer player when I grow up, I hope to be a marine biologist, and this will help me accomplish my dream. I can’t wait till I get to go help the ocean and save some of the ocean and I hope you will help me with my goals.


Timeline of Coralition Work:

August 29th- I was accepted into The Colorado Coralition!

September 10-17th- Read and study, study, study for required Scuba diving test. Must pass this test to move on in program.

September 18th-19th- Practice Scuba skills in Fort Collins pool

September 20th-21st – Travel to Utah to take Scuba test in 65ft. deep-warm-water Homestead Crater.

October- March- Attend a once-a-week after school club to read and analyze research on water ecology, coral reef habitat, human impact on coral reef health, etc. We will also be creating a ‘Carbon footprint project’ to offset the program’s environmental cost of getting to Florida. Stay tuned for more on this!

February 11th- 15th- Scuba refresher in Fort Collins pool. Practice and master our skills through games designed to lesson our impact on the ocean environments like not touching the bottom of the ocean with any of our body or scuba gear.  Also this week we will be doing a service learning project and a crowd funding event. I will share more details when we are doing this!

May 28th- June 2nd – Fly to Florida and replant coral in Key Largo. We will be studying in the classroom in the mornings and diving in the afternoons. Our goal is to replant between 60-100 coral and monitor the health of coral replanted 2 and 4 years ago. We will also be collecting real scientific data through Citizens for Science. So cool!
 

My Commitment to the Colorado Coralition:

·         Earn dive certification

·         Be an Ambassador for our school and the program

·         Prove to be a leader

·         Fundraise for the group and individually (see more below)

·         Attend after school meetings

·         My behavior must be one of a leader at school, out of school, on social media, and in my community

·         Have good school attendance

·         Maintain good grades in school

·         Maintain a healthy lifestyle so I don’t get injured and don’t get sick


Fundraising Commitment:

·         We will be putting on a school dance to raise money for the cost of the program

·         We will be working a local haunted house in October where all the proceeds collected go to our school Polaris and this program Colorado Coralition

·         We must come up with other ways we can make a business to raise money for our group. Like coffee sales at school, jewelry making, Holiday gifts, mowing lawns, etc.

·         Learning how to fundraise for the group and individually is a huge part of the program. This program is merit based and anyone who has interest and works hard can be in the program no matter their ability to pay for it. That’s why group fundraising is so important.

·         If I can raise over my cost for the program the money will be added to the overall group fundraising

·         Instead of getting Birthday gifts or Holiday gifts this year I am going to ask for a donation to this Adventure trip

I’m hoping through this Go Fund Me page that I can jump-start my fundraising for the costs due very soon to become Scuba Certified and traveling to Utah. I’m excited to explore other fundraising projects like I mentioned above as my work in this program continues. I will give updates on the progress of this program on this Go Fund me page. Thank you for taking the time to read this! – Lennon Huffman Proctor

Please don't feel pressured to donate I also just want to share about this cool program I'm doing. Thank you!