May and June brought 7th grade students from Quilcene, Port Townsend and Chimacum Middle Schools to participate in Maritime Discovery programs for 5-8 days. The campus and the bay were buzzing with students flowing through a multitude of maritime themed classes that are developed collaboratively between NWMC and teachers from the schools. All students go out on our longboats 3-4 times learning seamanship and important life skills.
Quilcene 7th and 8th graders came first from May 14-18. Highlights for Quilcene included beach walks, learning about Native American Culture and participating in Safety at Sea activities taught by PTHS Vessel Operations students.
120 Blue Heron Middle School 7th graders, the largest class we’ve ever worked with, filled the classrooms and boats with energy of learning new skills and working together in crews. To get all the students out on the water 3 times during this program, we added a new boat to the fleet, Onward, a longdory built by the Community Boat Project in Port Hadlock. A unique part of the Blue Heron program is the building and launching of the Skunk Island Skiff.
50 students from Chimacum Middle School finished out our school program season during the 1st two weeks of June. Centrum Arts Foundation provided movement and visual art components through a maritime lense.
Students from the programs were enthused about their experiences!
“I was so happy when I heard our school was doing this program because I want to build and sail my own boat someday.”- Blue Heron Middle School Student
“Why can’t every school day be like this?”-Chimacum Middle School Student