The transformational power of experiential education was evident from the moment Proctor first launched Mountain Classroom in 1973. The quality of each individual's holistic growth prompted replication through language immersion programs in Spain and France. Eventually, Ocean Classroom replaced the fall trimester Mountain program, with twenty-something students actively sailing a 130-foot schooner from New England to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is hard to imagine an educational program with greater life-changing outcomes than Ocean Classroom. To provide faculty, staff, parents and friends of Proctor a taste of the experience, a "Family Sail" departed Boston Harbor on July 28 for a three day cruise.
With a late afternoon start, the first leg featured the thrill of night sailing across Massachusetts Bay. The
Spirit of Massachusetts put in at Provincetown and the crew continued "watches" throughout the night. Wednesday's sail crossed the
Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuarywhere whales were spotted.
Ocean Classroom Director David Pilla--below at the helm--will be on sabbatical this year, and Kayden Will will be coordinating this fall's student voyage.
The
Spirit anchored in Gloucester Harbor, across from the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center, a destination of
past Ocean Classroom trips.
The next day's sail took our intrepid crew to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where they enjoyed a swim and were visited by friends in kayaks.
In the morning, they brought the ship into the docks to disembark.
Sailing from port to port in mid-summer through the Gulf of Maine does not pose some of the extremes of Ocean Classroom: occasional heavy seas, wet bunks and long days out of sight of land. Still, this fun cruise gave a diverse crowd of Proctor folk a taste for something very special: life aboard ship.
Thanks to William Cook for sharing these images!
