Bayfront Alternative Education Students Help Prepare Niagara For Sailing in the Spring
The Bayfront Center for Maritime Studies (BCMS) and Sarah Reed Children’s Center have combined their expertise to provide the Alternative Education programming for the Erie School District. This partnership is designed to improve the academic and behavioral performance of district students in grades 8 through 12 who are having difficulty being successful in the regular school environment. BCMS' innovative hands-on boatbuilding and related maritime project instruction reinforces traditional science, technology, math, and language arts subjects in a vibrant, non-traditional learning environment. Sarah Reed Children's Center provides the staffing expertise to support the student's behavioral, emotional, and social skill development necessary to be successful in the school environment.
The Bayfront Center for Maritime Studies is collaborating on several projects with the Erie Maritime Museum and the Flagship Niagara League. BCMS students are helping dress the ships yards, preparing them for sailing. Niagara Chief Mate, Billy Sabatini, and Bosun, Rob Aspinwall, will work with BCMS staff Alex Nagle and Rich Eisenberg and the students, starting with the two t'gallant yards that are both 28 feet long. These are the horizontal spars that support the tops of the ship's square sails.
Students discuss the Brig Niagara and its rig with BCMS maritime instructor Alex Nagle.
While students are helping Niagara staff to dress the yards, they will be learning local history and practicing vocational skills. Maritime career opportunities will be discussed as well, and the students who show an interest in the ship may become volunteers and eventually crewmembers.
You can also follow the students' progress on The Ship's Log.
Learning about Erie's history while participating in hands-on projects to help Pennsylvania's Flagship prepare for the sailing season will help nurture a sense of future and community in these teenagers.