Blue Schools
Blue Schools Initiative
For thousands of years, communities worldwide shared a deep connection to the sea through culture, skills, and professions. Today, the U.S. maritime field faces a crisis: an aging workforce, limited career awareness, and barriers like high initial costs and lack of representation. Contributing to this, many communities are disconnected from maritime life, identity, and traditions, and the ocean is under threat from pollution, acidification, and habitat loss. With Northwest Maritime’s deep experience fostering maritime connections and education, we knew it was time for a bold, new approach.
Prosperity, Stewardship, Innovation
The Blue Schools Initiative connects students and their communities with the maritime world, building a sense of belonging and inspiring care for our waters as well as opening doors to maritime careers. By breaking down barriers and working to include everyone, we’ll build community prosperity, foster environmental stewardship, and create a strong, sustainable maritime economy that benefits everyone.
The Blue Schools Initiative is, at its heart, a way to align and inspire across sectors and communities to deliver the shared goals of prosperity, stewardship, and economic resilience for communities connected to the water. Built on decades of effective public-private partnerships with schools and post-secondary institutions, the Blue Schools Initiative now encompasses education, community, and industry working together to solve problems together.
Over more than 25 years engaging students of all ages in transformative maritime experiences, we know that students’ learning is cumulative—each experience builds on the combination of community background, educational experiences, and many other influences.
The best learning outcomes—and therefore the most effective workforce development strategies—are rooted in a strong sense of place and purpose.
How It Works
A number of key players make up the Blue Schools Initiative in each community:
- K-12 school leaders: superintendents, principals, and teachers who see the value in connecting students to the sea
- Post-secondary institutions: that offer industry-recognized credentials and help graduates enter the maritime field
- Maritime education organizations: to offer hands-on experiences that connect people with the sea, and with maritime careers
- Marine science organizations: such as an aquarium, science center or citizen science organization with a special awareness of environmental issues and opportunities
- Trusted community organizations: like festivals, events, and organizations that serve specific communities that can help make maritime culture, careers, and stewardship part of a community’s identity
- Maritime employers: to bring real-world experience to the table, provide mentorships and internships, and advise on the skills that are crucial for the next generation maritime workforce.
Are you one of these and like this idea? Get in touch!
In each community, Blue Schools leaders:
- Support curriculum development and implementation that develop career awareness, real-world job skills, and maritime credentialing
- Support community engagement in maritime culture, stewardship, and careers to make maritime part of community identity
- Align messaging around maritime career opportunities and educational pathways to build literacy and awareness around the opportunities available in the field
When these key players can align around these issues, not only will we begin to see sustainable improvements in the maritime workforce, but we’ll have a network of coastal communities where more people know about, care about, and can identify with what makes their places special—the blue parts of the map.
Sound interesting for your community?
Reach out to Katelyn Kean at katelyn@nwmaritime.org