Jake's love for ailing pet turtle mushrooms into a kids' crusade

By C. Ron Allen
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Jake Weisel was distraught after finding a tumor on the neck of his pet turtle Angel.

His fifth-grade teachers and peers at Tradewinds Elementary School were also concerned and began researching the tumor. They soon learned that sea turtles, like their freshwater counterparts, are afflicted with fibropapillomatosis, a potentially fatal disease that causes large, unsightly tumors.

They also discovered that far too many sea turtles were dying after eating plastic that was in the water, said Jake, 11, of Coconut Creek.

"Sea turtles' main diet is jellyfish and when plastic bags go into the ocean, they [the sea turtles] mistake it for jellyfish and eat it," he said. "It can then get clogged in their digestive system and they will eventually die."

Calling themselves the Tradewinds Turtle Troopers, 42 students from two classes set out on a mission to save the federally protected sea turtles.

"Jake was feeling really sad and he was pretty disappointed all day ... so a week later we came up with the idea to help turtles," said Ryan Baker, 10, of Coconut Creek.

The Turtle Troopers sent letters to officials at Publix, Winn-Dixie and Wal-Mart asking them to add animals and marine life to their suffocation warning labels on their plastic bags. Representatives from all three companies commended the initiative and said they either would consider revising the wording or redesign the bags. Winn-Dixie donated a $50 gift certificate to the cause and Publix sent each student a pencil.

"Winn-Dixie is already discussing putting a warning on our plastic bags for animals," Andrea Rodriguez, Winn-Dixie's neighborhood marketing specialist wrote to the class. "We think this is a wonderful project for the children to undertake and will benefit the sea turtles greatly."

Taylor Minchenberg hopes change is coming.

"It makes me feel good because maybe people will stop littering and recycle plastic bags so they won't blow away and end up killing the endangered sea turtles," said Taylor, 10, of Coconut Creek.

The students held a car wash and raised $600, which they donated to the Caribbean Conservation Corp. in Gainesville. They have adopted 22 sea turtles, including eight that the students will be able to track by satellite on the organization's Web site.

The Turtle Troopers also launched a campaign to sell the Florida Sea Turtle specialty license plate.

"We wrote notes to the kids and asked their parents to buy the license tags," said Jake, who recently was named a South Florida Sun-Sentinel Kid of Character for citizenship in a program that recognizes students in the Broward County school system.

They invited Michael Patrick O'Neill, author of Let's Explore Sea Turtles, to speak to the school.

Jill Putney had no idea that the project, which started with her class rallying around Jake and trying to save a few sea turtles, would mushroom so quickly.

The experience, she said, has motivated the students, who she said brainstormed ideas and came up with the fundraisers.

"It's really impressive the things they are doing to raise funds," said Kimberly Johnson, membership coordinator at the nonprofit Caribbean Conservation Corp. "It's really amazing."

This is one in a series of stories on students who best exemplify the Broward County School District's eight character education traits -- cooperation, responsibility, citizenship, kindness, respect, honesty, self-control and tolerance -- and patriotism as part of all eight.

C. Ron Allen can be reached at crallen@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7917.