What’s the salty equivalent of a jack-of-all-trades? A Maritime Discovery Program student. Master-of-none, however, might only apply since they’re often 5th graders. Each spring and fall, school groups from near and far gather to discover their “spark”—what brings light to their eyes, and what challenges them to think more expansively.
In the Boatshop, our team guides them through using bandsaws and drills to craft their own vessel. Christened with names like Barney the Purple Point Hudson Dory, the school takes their boat home with them, a tangible reminder that their students are now shipwrights.
On the water, students glide towards Admiralty Inlet on longboats or keelboats. Silence as they leave the harbor hints at anticipation and nervousness… But laughter and the occasional sea shanty drift on the wind as they return to harbor, a bit more seaworthy (and sometimes more soggy) than they were before.
In the Pilothouse, students become captains. Faced with three video screens much taller than themselves, they navigate their way through a simulation of a Coast Guard Cutter in the Puget Sound. We allow controlled chaos to ensue for the last 5 minutes when we turn the weather up to “Violent Storm” and capsize the boat, always immediately followed with a chorus of “YEEEAAAAAAAAHs!!!!!”
As navigators, students learn about the numerous ways cultures have mastered the art of wayfinding and the tools they use as guides. Hawaiian star charts map the night, Micronesian stick charts identify ocean swells and currents, and Inuit carvings of driftwood trace the rugged coastline. Our students use this context to build upon their own unique sense of place, grounded by the local sea and skies.
And as marine scientists, students carefully deploy plankton nets and perform water quality tests off the pier. A world of tiny mysteries unfolds as they peer down the eyepiece of a microscope. We explore questions like “What do you notice and what do you wonder?” as we weave our way through investigating how we are in relationship with our environment.
They may be master-of-none currently, but it won’t be for long. When they board their school bus heading home, they drive away with zest, grit, and curiosity that will carry them forward, no matter the path. Watching waves through the windows, they might just be realizing that their futures could be more wild than they had imagined.
