Radiant Education Foundation has long been deeply committed to ocean environmental education, upholding the core philosophy of corporate social responsibility while continuously promoting ocean literacy among young children. This year, the foundation partnered with Kaohsiung's independent bookstore " Forever young Fans & Books" to launch the "Ocean Picture Book Knowledge Workshop" once again, centered on the original ocean picture book That Full Moon Night. Starting from the city and venturing into Qianzhen Fishing Port, the workshop guided preschool teachers through the theme of "The Ocean on Our Dining Tables" to understand the relationships between ocean culture, fishing port ecology, and sustainable dining from a food education perspective, establishing a more in-depth action framework for ocean education in southern Taiwan.

A total of 42 preschool teachers from 25 kindergartens voluntarily participated in this Ocean Picture Book Knowledge Workshop. In addition to completing the training, participating teachers incorporated ocean picture books into their teaching practice over a period of two and a half months as agreed in the program. They guided preschool children to learn about marine ecology through reading, reflect on their daily life choices, and gradually cultivate an awareness of ocean conservation that they can put into practice in their everyday lives.

The teaching plans submitted this year demonstrated remarkable creativity and initiative from the teachers. The curriculum covered topics such as sustainable seafood awareness, observing the footprint of seafood on dining tables, creating fishing port maps, and conducting field trips to traditional markets. Through diverse formats including parent-child reading, intergenerational learning between seniors and children, family tasks, and daily life observations, ocean conservation was integrated into the daily lives of young children. These ocean-loving actions extended from children's learning to their families and communities, with a cumulative impact reaching over 3,500 people, allowing the program's momentum to continue spreading throughout the community.

To recognize the selfless dedication and hard work of preschool teachers in implementing ocean conservation actions, Radiant Education Foundation Chairman Wang Yu-chao, together with a panel of professional judges, selected three outstanding programs this year: "Walking Together to Love the Ocean" — Designed by teachers Tung Yu-ju and Chen Chia-hui from Siwei Elementary School Affiliated Preschool. Through extensive picture book reading, they explored with children the connections between marine biodiversity and their own lives. By effectively utilizing community resources to enrich their teaching content, they enabled the influence of ocean conservation to radiate outward with the children at the center. "Eat Fish Wisely, Keep the Ocean and Ourselves Healthy" — Developed by teachers Ou Chia-wen and Chiu Hsuan-ling from Fuxing Elementary School Affiliated Preschool. Using the experience of "eating well" as a starting point, and building upon two activities—family weekend sharing and young storytellers—they guided children to think about environmental issues related to fishing, pricing, and transportation from the seafood on their dining tables. The program taught children and influenced parents alike to embrace the lifestyle of "eating local, eating in season."  Fukang Elementary School Affiliated Preschool — Through nine diverse sub-activities, children were guided to understand the interdependent relationship between humans and the natural environment. From the source to the destination of the seafood they consume, children were encouraged to think about protecting our ocean environment starting from their daily life choices.

Radiant Education Foundation stated that it will continue to promote ocean environmental education through the " Sea You Again Infinite Love for the Ocean Action Plan," cultivating more seeds of ocean conservation through diverse approaches, with the hope of nurturing sustainability advocates who are rooted in educational settings. Next year, the foundation will also release the third picture book in its series featuring the ocean characteristics of southern Taiwan. Combined with original artwork exhibitions and ocean storytelling services, the foundation hopes to join hands with more schools and families to spread sustainable thinking from early childhood education into communities, continuously nurturing a culture of ocean conservation throughout the city.

NEWS Source: https://money.udn.com/money/story/5635/9209383