LBMS creates human surfboard to support the environment

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About 900 students, staff and residents gathered Long Beach Middle School on Tuesday to create an image of a surfboard to raise awareness about the environment and celebrate the city’s recent green initiatives.

The living art piece represented reusability and sustainability, organizers said. To create the image, students collaborated with building staff and Oregon-based conceptual artist Daniel Dancer, who conducts Art For the Sky projects across the U.S. with the goal of creating living paintings of endangered species and global messages.

Students and staff wore the school’s colors — blue and white — to create the surfboard and wave. Within the wave was a yin and yang sign surrounded by recycling symbols made out of re-purposed and recycled materials that students found.

To bring the image to life, Dancer photographed the design from a ladder truck raised 100 feet in the air, courtesy of the Point Lookout-Lido Fire Department. “Part of the reason I love this so much is the kids — they are so positive and innocent, and no matter what is going on in the world, they are optimistic,” Dancer said. “I want to help them feel a part of something so much bigger than themselves.”

Eighth-grader Alec Ignatow, a member of the National Junior Honor Society, participated in the event and said it was not only important for the school, but for the entire community.

“I thought it was really fun and important to the environment,” Ignatow said. “Hopefully this event will help people understand that they should not litter because it can ruin our precious planet.”