USA Blue Schools Spring Student Symposia
The USA Blue Schools hosted three student symposia this spring, with students from 26 schools presenting their work to others. Blue Schools students from 2nd through 12th graders presented just a snapshot of the incredible work they’ve done with their action projects, which included invasive species removal, water quality investigations, native gardening, school waste diversion, and more!
Our first symposium, held in person at the end of March at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk in Connecticut, featured nearly 400 students from NY, NJ, and CT. Each school presented a poster, with some schools sharing multiple investigations and additional artifacts with other Blue Schools students and members of the public. Following two poster sessions, students were treated to special workshops with aquarium educators, and of course, got to explore the exhibits.
Nearly 400 students from USA Blue Schools in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut attended an in-person symposium on March 27, 2026. Credit: Mary Ushay
PS 189X students from Bronx, NY, show off their action project poster, focusing on upcycling plastic waste in their school community.
Hawaii Technology Academy students educated other learners with an ecosystem puppet show.
The Hawai’i Blue School Hui held their (first-ever!) virtual symposium on May 8th, which featured four schools from three different Hawaiian Islands! Students focused on connecting their action projects to Native Hawaiian places, practices, values, and oral histories, along with using Western science techniques to study water quality and erosion control measures.
The USA Blue Schools Virtual Symposium, open to all USA Blue Schools, was held on May 13th and featured seven schools from Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, and New York. Students shared research projects, oyster gardening initiatives, engineering activities, public service announcements, and stop motion movies of their own creation. Students asked one another questions and learned more about the many different ways youth are caring for our global ocean.
Love of Learning Montessori School in NY students shared how they built an oyster reef.
Students from Ocean Studies Charter School in Florida discussed how they employed the engineering design process to create the most effective Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS).
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