During the 2018-19 school year, teams of middle schoolers tackled the problem of plastic pollution in our waterways with the National Geographic GeoChallenge. First-place teams from sixteen regional competitions traveled to the 2019 Geo Championships in Washington, D.C. in May 2019. This blog series introduces you to each of those teams in their own words.* Registration for next year’s #NatGeoChallenge opens in August at NatGeoEd.org/GeoChallenge.

Meet the Kids Against Pollution!

Kids Against Pollution started an awareness campaign at their school about the harmful effects of discarded plastic fishing materials and how biodegradable materials offer an environmentally friendly alternative. The team also coordinated with teachers to design lesson plans to complement a children’s book they wrote, entitled Sushi.

From: Strong Rock Christian School, Georgia

Team Motto: We are the Kids Against Pollution and we have a solution!

List one way you’ve changed your single-use plastic use: We have begun to recycle in our classroom at school. We no longer drink out of plastic water bottles. Instead we refill our cups and bottles at school.

A funny thing about your coach: Mrs. Cardin lets us throw the football around the room before class starts, but we have to protect her coffee. If it gets hit, we are in trouble!

The biggest obstacle you had to overcome as a team: We had to learn to compromise with each other and truly listen to each other’s ideas.

Favorite moment at the regional competition: We loved touring the projects of the other teams and talking to them about what they did.

Registration for the 2019-2020 National Geographic GeoChallenge opens in August.

*Team responses have been lightly edited for grammar.