Flagship Transition CHAMPS Students Launch Their New Boat Today!
Fifteen kids at Flagship Transition School elected to participate in the Erie School District CHAMPS Program. This after school program met at BCMS to build a boat. They came together as a team and successfully completed, a significant project. Completing canoe construction, while being a noteworthy event in itself, is just the beginning. These kids learned teamwork. They learned about problem solving. They learned to work on separate side projects, each of which were part of a bigger goal. They practiced and learned effective communication. They learned acceptable and productive ways to disagree while keeping the project moving forward to completion. They learned to read, understand, and interpret two dimensional scale drawings, turning them into a full sized three dimensional product. These vital skills are important in any workplace, job site, or where ever people gather. Sure, they also learned how to read a tape measure, how to manipulate fractions, how to accurately measure and mark out parts of the boat, proper use of over a dozen hand tools and high tech adhesives and fasteners, and all the finishing techniques and processes necessary to make their boat look good. These vocational skills are important too, but it is the combination of all the processes, social, mental, and vocational, carried out to completion of the project that make this such an important and positive event for these kids and our community.
In the middle of our Erie winter these kids came to BCMS once a week and worked hard to complete their canoe project.
Young boatbuilders having fun paddling at the launch of their fine looking new canoe.