San Diego students experience the beach for 1st time at Kids Ocean Day – NBC 7 San Diego

Hundreds of elementary school students from across San Diego County gathered at Mission Beach for Kids Ocean Day, a large-scale cleanup event focused on environmental stewardship. For dozens of those students, it was their first time ever stepping onto sand.

The annual event, considered the largest youth-centered beach cleanup in San Diego, brought about 600 students from low-income schools to the coast. Organizers said around 40 of those students had never been to the beach before.

Among them was 11-year-old Adama Diallo, a student at Ray Elementary School.

“It feels so good. There’s so much sand wherever I go,” Diallo said.

Diallo, who is from West Africa, said her parents had never taken her to the beach due to fears about ocean dangers.

“They think there’s gonna be sharks in the water and so they don’t let me,” Diallo said.

She added that her parents had never visited the beach themselves.

“No! Their parents told them and they told us,” Diallo said.

Organizers with I Love A Clean San Diego said barriers such as transportation and access often prevent families from visiting the coast.

“Having the opportunity to have funding to bring them here with transportation and put on an event like this, it has an impact way beyond just picking up litter from the environment,” Education Director Ali Nicoloff said.

Beyond the cleanup effort, Nicoloff emphasized the broader impact of the experience.

For many students, the day was about more than collecting trash. It was about building a connection to the environment and feeling a sense of belonging along San Diego’s coastline.

By the end of the day, students gathered to form a message on the sand, reinforcing the idea that the coast is for everyone.

“I will come to the beach after now if my parents say yes again,” Diallo said.

Kids Ocean Day is part of an international movement that engages elementary-age students in ocean conservation, with events held from San Diego to Hong Kong.

I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) is an environmental nonprofit that has supported residents and businesses of San Diego County through youth and adult education, and local action through impactful volunteer events and workshops since 1954. For more information, to volunteer or donate, click here.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.