For months, the Everglades Ambassadors from Key Largo School met after school on Mondays and Tuesdays to design and paint a stunning Earth Day mural for the second year in a row.
“Everglades Ambassadors choose one theme to focus on each year. This year, we decided to raise awareness about manatees,” said teacher Pam Caputo.
“They really had an artistic perspective on everything they did,” she added.
This year, 15 students from fifth grade and up serve as Everglades Ambassadors. They write an essay to join the afterschool program, which focuses on learning about and preserving our fragile environment.
To help bring their vision to life, Caputo enlisted her friend and KLS volunteer Deb Riolo. Riolo is a graphic designer who taught graphic design at a vocational school for 36 years before retiring to the Keys. She runs @BellaNonaArt, where she donates her time and skills to help nonprofits with fundraising.
“The fun part is that on Earth Day, we hosted kindergarten through fourth grade, and the ambassadors helped them put their handprints on the manatees,” said Riolo.
From start to finish, the project took about 30 hours. Berry’s Paint of Key Largo generously donated the paint. For the students, it was a hands-on learning experience that was very personal.
After finishing the mural, the Everglades Ambassadors invited younger students from Pre-K to fourth grade to a presentation.
“We had to learn a lot of information because we needed to teach them about manatees and these creatures,” said sixth grader Ani Horn. “We learned many facts about manatees while we were trying to teach them.”
“We got to teach them about the Everglades and not to touch manatees,” said fifth grader Scarlet Hanks.
“Don’t feed manatees and go slow in the no-wake zones,” added fifth grader Matthew Riquelme.
“It’s illegal to touch them,” emphasized fifth grader Melissa Hernandez.
Once the manatees were painted, the students added colorful sea creatures to the bottom row in the seagrasses.
“The Everglades Ambassadors were a joy to work with, and in my opinion, that whole bottom row is the show,” said Riolo.
“My favorite part of the project was just seeing everyone included,” said fifth grader Katelyn Shalvatis.
“I knew we could do it because of teamwork,” added fifth grader Jacob Medina.
“We did a great job,” said sixth grader Maryana Arraval.
For students growing up in the Keys, the Everglades is part of everyday life. Learning to coexist with nature and protect it is the core of this program.
“I just want to raise awareness because of how bad the earth is right now. We need to try to fix it and slowly make it better,” said sixth grader Gabby Castano Polo.
Key Largo School has collaborated with the Everglades Foundation for five years. Caputo believes that lessons learned from these Everglades Ambassadors will greatly benefit the environment.
“When you start teaching them in kindergarten about not feeding manatees, they will go home and tell their parents ‘We shouldn’t do this,’” said Caputo.
