Students from a relatively new high school in our area had a successful cruise in boats they built with their own hands.
Maritime High School in Des Moines is still so new, they only have freshmen and sophomores, with the class of 27 due to start in the fall. They’ve spent the last few months building their own canoes, and this week they end the school year by taking them on the Duwamish River.
Their principal and co-founder, Tremain Holloway, says Maritime High gives them opportunities for hands-on learning that can help now and radically change education to lead these students to a bright future. “This was a lot of mathematics, geometrical shapes that come into place with this, a lot of project-based learning,” Holloway says, “So, I think it’s really intentional that we do work like this because this is what learning should always be about.”
Students Amara and Mac tell Northwest Newsradio the river ride gives them a sense of accomplishment and reinforces the other skill they’ve learned: teamwork. Amara says, “On a ship, or on a boat or on a canoe it goes into like ‘okay, so I’m going to paddle left. You paddle right,’ and then so [you’re] paddling, but you also have to communicate with your team.” Mac says, “We’ve been given a lot of opportunities to give tours to people and advocacy presentations, and we’re always working together as a group.”
Maritime High School, which is in the Highline School District, is a public private partnership still looking for support since they’re about a million dollars short of what they need to get to four classes. Principal Holloway says they’re also hoping to be included the next school bond vote so they can build a new school building to accommodate a “full boat” of 400 students.
