Proctor's Ocean Classroom aboard the schooner Roseway has made its way through a few days of waiting for Hurricane Joaquin to head to sea, and recently sailed into Manahattan. Their nine week journey along the eastern seaboard en route to Puerto Rico continues to bring out the best in each student as they encounter unforeseen challenge, inclement weather, hands-on learning, research projects, seasickness, and new perspectives.
A week ago, family, advisors, and friends waved goodbye from Gloucester Harbor as the Roseway sailed into the Atlantic and Ocean Classroom began its term at sea. Tomorrow, the group departs New London, Connecticut and sails into the Long Island Sound, keeping a careful eye on Hurricane Joaquin as its path unfolds along the eastern seaboard. Already, the lives of the twenty-two students aboard are being transformed. Read student reflections from the first week below.
On Thursday parents, students, and friends traveled to Gloucester, Massachusetts for the send off of Proctor’s Ocean Classroom voyage on Roseway. The smells of the waterfront, the slap of halyards, and the keening gulls swirled in a gyre of beckoning and possibility. The mix of nerves and excitement, that fuel for adventure, was palpable on deck as families hugged and pictures were snapped. After a little more than an hour of mingling, prowling through quarters, meeting the crew, checking out the galley, parents and guests were asked to leave. Gently but firmly. The engine rumbled, lines were cast off, and the Roseway slipped into the gold of late afternoon light. A farewell cannon clap startled the well wishers on the docks and a final cheer stretched across the harbor.
Ocean Classroom concludes its term-long adventure aboard the Schooner Roseway this week. Sailing from Gloucester to St. Croix is most certainly an experience of a lifetime. When students (now sailors) return home next weekend, parents will see transformed adolescents; individuals filled with confidence, a passion to learn, and an appreciation for hard work. As the sun sets on this term on Ocean Classroom, the power of learning at sea is only just beginning to filter back into the Proctor community...and THAT is what makes our off-campus programs so exciting!
Ocean Classroom is now a full week into their time in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sunshine, warm waters, and continued transformational education aboard the Schooner Roseway! Enjoy these images and student reflections from Logan Marcus '16 and and Christian Takahashi '16.
Proctor's Ocean Classroom has arrived safely in St. Croix after a ten day passage from Charleston, South Carolina aboard the Schooner Roseway! While written reflections by students on the journey will eventually articulate the magnitude of this accomplishment, video footage captures perhaps more than words can at this point in time.
After being stuck in Charleston, South Carolina for a few extra days due to offshore weather, Ocean Classroom is in the midst of a twelve day passage to St. Croix. Students share reflections on their time in Savannah and expectations for the voyage ahead.
Ocean Classroom has left Charleston, South Carolina with its next stop coming in the Virgin Islands! Hurricane Gonzalo impacted the group's itinerary slightly, but as program director Dave Pilla wrote to families Saturday, "Safety trumps everything when at sea."
