Real World Readiness
A 10-week program to help our community’s adjudicated youth

Hello, my name is Robin Mills, and I am the Program Director at the Northwest Maritime Center. A challenge we face in our community came to my attention on the sidelines at a soccer game last fall. My son and the son of a local sheriff were on the same team. In our sideline conversation, we talked about the generational rut of poverty, criminal justice and closed doors. He grew up in Chimacum and sees the same families cycling through the court system that he remembers seeing as a young person.

This conversation reminded me of a program I worked for in 1996 and 1997 in Hawaii. I was crew on a boat that worked with adjudicated young men who were “sentenced” to time on board the SSV Tole Mour. We taught them mariner skills such as navigation, standing watch, sailing, and other deck duties. While on board, they did school work, worked with their social workers, and grew into being positive contributors to our maritime community. The young men graduated from the program with a set of skills they could use for employment, and also with life skills to help them succeed in the future.

I asked the sheriff if he thought the opportunities at the Maritime Center could serve the same purpose as those that I saw in Hawaii—creating the opportunity to open doors for youth to gain both the soft skills of leadership, confidence, responsibility and teamwork, and the hard skills to potentially move into a maritime career.

It takes intentional actions to utilize real-world mariner experiences and training in order to provide adjudicated youth with opportunities to learn the previously mentioned soft skills. To this end, I am excited to announce a new collaborative partnership between the Jefferson County Juvenile and Family Court Services and the Northwest Maritime Center. Working together, we recently launched the pilot, “Real World Readiness Program.” This new pilot program was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Jefferson Community Foundation’s “Better Living Through Giving Circle” and two donors from our community. This is a beautiful of example of the power of community and the good that comes from working together.

Now in its second week of operation, the program has gained 7 youth from our community ranging in ages 16-18, all of whom are considered moderate-high risk in terms of their risk to re-offend. Through experiences on and off the water with passionate, trained staff, they will have the opportunity to earn 1 CTE credit, a CPR and First Aid certification, and a WA Boaters Card. Students will continue to meet every Wednesday through December 12 from 1-5 PM.

For more information about the Real World Readiness program, contact Program Director Robin Mills at robin@nwmaritime.org. To help support this program, contact Lisa French at lisa@nwmaritime.org.