Miami’s KIPP Liberty Academy Students Get Important Lesson While Picking Up Trash In Virginia Key

By Ashley Dyer

More than a dozen middle schoolers from Kipp Liberty Academy spent part of Thursday outside and on the beach, but they weren’t there to relax.

The students hiked alongside local environmentalist, Andrew Otazo, cleaning up littered waterways.

Over the span of four years, Otazo has collected more than 16,000 pounds of trash from Virginia Key and Key Biscayne. Now, he’s working to get youth involved in his mission.

Today’s goal is simple, pick up as much trash as possible.

“We always have to keep our oceans safe no matter what. Some of the animals in here, they’re helpful to the planet,” said Kipp Liberty 7th grader, Michael Figueroa.

We trekked through the mangroves and across a channel of water to get us to the beaches of Virginia Key, where unfortunately, there is no shortage of trash.

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