Bluffton High School and H.E. McCracken Middle School have each won a $2,000 grant from Champions of the Environment, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced.

“The ‘Be an Eco-Hero’ project at Bluffton High School involves students who participated in the Student Training Empowerment Program (S.T.E.P),” said Amy Bennett, Champions of the Environment coordinator. “They’re working to reduce waste by converting gently used t-shirts into reusable shopping bags that will be made available to the community.”

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Fabien Cousteau, grandson of the famous Jacques Cousteau, visited Hilton Head on February 13, to talk with some of the high school student members of STEP about the environment; and furthermore, to educate them about preservation of the ocean and its inhabitants, as well as wildlife protection. The students were able to ask Fabien, who uses filmmaking to make the public aware of important environmental issues, many questions about the environment, and also had the opportunity to hear first hand about some of his most adventurous projects, such as his current exploration of the Amazon and his recent production, “Shark: Mind of a Demon with Fabien Cousteau,” in which Fabien swims with great white sharks as a great white himself!