SASY Operational Press Release

Oceans For Youth
Oceans For Youth Foundation has been established as a nonprofit, education-oriented foundation that will provide informational resources for the nation's schools and teachers. With the income derived from Supplied Air Snorkelling, Oceans For Youth will create programs to help teachers educate grade- and middle-school-age children about the marine environment, and about the important relationships and connections between life in the seas and life on land.

The foundation intends to fund representatives (dive centers, instructors, writers and interested divers) who will visit schools and deliver presentations to teachers and students. Educational materials and resources will be made available to teachers. An Oceans For Youth Web site will be established and promoted for educators to find resources and information to use in their efforts, and for parents to use with their kids at home. Supplied Air Snorkelling started out as a product to introduce kids to the marine environment, but as the creative and financial genesis of Oceans For Youth, it will be far more important as a tool to provide funding for ocean education on a broader scale.

The Oceans For Youth board of directors includes Wayne Hasson, president of the Aggressor Fleet; Jeff Simpson from Ocean's Window dive center; Gary Worden, Jerry Beaty and Mark Young from Dive Training; and John Modugno from Custom Buoyancy Inc.

Educational Opportunities Abound
Supplied Air Snorkelling is being endorsed by the major certifying agencies, and introductory programs for Supplied Air Snorkelling are being considered so that instructors and resorts around the world can introduce it to kids and adults in an easy, safe way. Some will also provide special recognition certificates that kids will be proud to earn. Supplied Air Snorkelling can be integrated into programs for kids to make fish-watching more entertaining and educational. Many of the resorts and retailers who have seen the product plan to make Supplied Air Snorkelling available in a family-friendly course where parents and older children using scuba can enjoy their level of instruction, with the younger ones joining in as SASY divers. According to Wayne, "Oceans For Youth will be creating materials for those programs to make Supplied Air Snorkelling more fun and meaningful. With kids experiencing the beauty and awe of the seas firsthand, we hope to help create a future generation that understands - and is respectful of - the world's marine environments."

Another Voice
"Making a commitment to something must come with education, and therefore must target a younger age," says Jean-Michel Cousteau, about his "Prior to Puberty" theory. He believes that to capture the attention of young people in today's society you must attract them at an early stage of life; otherwise, you may lose their attention until after high school or college. "Supplied Air Snorkelling is a great invention and can help us lead more young people to get involved with the preservation and protection of our underwater planet."

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