Having an ocean and wildlife areas in close proximity to home tends to keep the environment top of mind for Laguna Beach residents.

Seventh-grade students at Thurston Middle School have been getting an education in real-world issues, first learning outside the classroom and then presenting their findings.

Those enrolled in a semester-long STEAM course — which stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — recently looked into ways to reduce stormwater pollution.

The students visited a nearby water treatment facility, cleaned out storm drains on campus, and then gave presentations on the subject before city and school staff and industry leaders, including representatives from the Moulton Niguel Water District, at school on Tuesday.

A Thurston seventh-grader presents findings in a stormwater pollution study to city and school staff on Tuesday in Laguna Beach.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“I think it gave our students a great lens of how powerful of a ripple effect this kind of work can have and the number of people that have similar goals in our community,” said Joseph Vidal, the principal of Thurston Middle School.

Students took turns stepping up to the podium and sharing parts of the project. It included a bit of levity, when a cartoonish representation of a person littering led to an encounter with a supernatural being from the sewer.

After the item struck the mutant-like creature in the head, it came up to the surface and used its laser vision to send a message to the individual littering.

“Sometimes, that’s the right way into the middle-school mindset is to poke fun at it, but have a serious message that’s also embedded in there,” Vidal said. “I think our kids have done a great job with that.”

Thurston seventh-graders practice public speaking while presenting ideas to reduce stormwater pollution.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

The activities came as part of a partnership with Poseidon Education, a collaboration Laguna Beach Unified School District officials said has been implemented in the coursework for a couple of years. Poseidon Education ran an internship, funded by the Orange County Public Works H2OC Stormwater Program, that culminated in the students delivering their proposals to reduce stormwater pollution in their community.

Patti Diaz, the chief executive and president of Poseidon Education, said the material helps to “plant that seed” for the future and give students something meaningful in their education.

“They’re going to remember doing this,” Diaz said. “Even if they don’t 100% remember all of the details of it, they’ll remember that they had an experience. I bet you anything these kids have drain vision now, where they can’t walk over a storm drain without noticing it.”

The learning process included a field trip to the South Orange County Wastewater Authority.

Thurston Middle School seventh-graders prepare to present their ideas to reduce stormwater pollution on Tuesday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“They got to actually see the wastewater treatment plant,” Diaz said. “That’s not stormwater. We do try to differentiate — stormwater goes directly to the ocean and wastewater is from your drains and gets processed. They’re going to definitely have a memory of that because of the smell.

“It’s bringing these experiences and making them more real. … The water doesn’t just go away. It goes somewhere. There’s an impact. The trash that went down that drain… it went somewhere. It didn’t just magically disappear.”

Gloria Harwood, the school district’s coordinator of environmental literacy, said the district’s goals include an emphasis on sustainability through effective environmental education.

Thurston Middle School STEAM teacher Jennifer Kim’s class completed a Poseidon Education internship on stormwater pollution.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Multiple student groups were honored before the City Council on Tuesday night, including a cohort of high school students that worked on a video for wildfire preparedness and elementary students who were recognized for their submissions in a water quality and wastewater awareness art contest.

Harwood said that taking education beyond the classroom, allowing students to “get their hands dirty,” and giving them the tools to ask questions helps them to develop into “change-makers within their community.”

“We have a lot of fun here,” Harwood added. “We just want to make sure the students are connected to the planet as much as possible because it does have such an impact.”