On Board the Adventuress

Engagement. That is the name of the game at Salmonberry School. And how could students not be engaged! Salmonberry’s 1^st-4^th grade class just returned from a two-day field trip to Port Townsend, the highlight of which was a learning adventure aboard the 110’ long, hundred-year-old wooden sailing ship, The Adventuress.

Salmonberry students, teachers, parents and grandparents took part in a wide range of activities aboard the century-old schooner. They participated in a plankton tow, and looked at planktonic organisms using the ship’s on-board microscopes. They hoisted sails, learned about ship navigation, steered the boat, learned about watersheds, sang sea shanties and much more. They even took time to share a poem, and engage in some silent reflection while on board. The sailing was hands-on learning at its best and exemplified many key principles of Salmonberry School’s educational philosophy.

Storm clouds ahead!

First, learning at Salmonberry is a lifelong adventure. It happens everywhere and all the time. “We look for opportunities to take the kids out of the school building’s four walls and bring them into the world, where the learning process often can benefit from a richer and more visceral context,” said Salmonberry Program Director, Paul Freedman. “Deep learning happens with the wind in your hair.”

Second, learning is strongest when it is a hands-on first hand process. The students here were not learning about marine sciences, they were doing marine science – in the field, alongside professionals. Brain research often points to experiential education as the best model for learning and retention.

Third, learning happens in community. The students worked in multi-generational teams and strengthened interpersonal bonds, which will be the basis for much of their work at school this year.

Land ho!

Finally, Salmonberry School believes in and practices place-based education. This field experience was the beginning of a several month-long place-based study of the Salish Sea for Salmonberry’s young students, it’s natural history, ecology, human history and cultures. Freedman says, “We believe it is very important to help root children deeply in the place they live, and to make learning relevant to their particular lives, in this particular place. When we decided to focus this fall on a place-based study of the Salish Sea, the first obvious question was ‘how do we get the kids into the water?’” Place-based education is emerging as the leading edge of the environmental educational movement. By this model, students learn through the microcosm of their own lives. They learn deeply about where they live and learn to care for that place. They often engage in service projects related to their home community. Place-based education is widely recognized as a powerful alternative to a standards-driven model whereby students across a wide geographic area are all taught to the same standards.

The time aboard the Adventuress was exciting and dynamic. 1^st grade student August Groenenger, summed it up in one word, “Awesome!”