Our team traveled once again to the beautiful island of Rhodes, aiming to meet, engage with, and inspire 1,456 students and 132 teachers from local schools. The TUI Junior Academy by All For Blue, supported by the TUI Care Foundation, as part of the Rhodes Co-Lab initiative, has now become an integral part of the educational community in Rhodes, which brings us immense joy.
We visited the 3rd Junior High School of Rhodes, the 7th Junior High School of Rhodes, the Junior High School of Kremasti, and the 2nd High School of Rhodes, where, with the participation of both teachers and students, we had the pleasure of conducting six educational seminars. Once again, all the students were enthusiastic about marine life and learned how they can contribute to environmental protection. Of course, their thoughtful and inspiring questions never cease to amaze us, with inquiries like: “How long do sharks live?” “How did all these objects we find during cleanups end up in the sea?” and “How can someone become a diver?” These questions demonstrated how much the seminar resonated with them.
After the theoretical part, we moved on to action, where the students were invited to put into practice everything they had learned. Our team organized cleanups at three beaches—specifically in the areas of Ixia, Zephyros, and Kremasti—collecting a total of 369 kgs of waste. Students and teachers, under the guidance and with the equipment provided by All For Blue, took on the task of removing litter from the shores, while volunteer divers recovered items from the seabed. The most unusual find during the entire mission was the skeleton of a beach umbrella, weighing 20 kgs, which was removed from the seabed of Ixia Beach!
We would like to thank all the schools for their warm hospitality and active participation, as well as the municipality and port authorities for their contribution to this initiative. Lastly, we are grateful to all the volunteers for their invaluable help in making this program a reality.
