Pulling into Raymond, Maine, I passed by the Murch Cemetery. I filed the name in the back of my mind because of its homonym, thinking to myself, “I wonder what the Merch - hats and t-shirts -  from Murch looks like?”

Two and a half weeks ago, Ocean Classroom 2022 gathered on the docks of Mystic Harbor in Connecticut, ready to set sail for a term at sea. A last minute repair to the Harvey Gamage delayed their actual departure, allowing the student crew to spend a week aboard the tall ship Joseph Conrad before transferring up the coast to the Oliver Hazard Perry, a historic square rigged tall ship out of Newport, Rhode Island. As repairs continue aboard Gamage, Ocean Classroom continues to learn hard, valuable lessons in patience and persistence as they continue their marine biology, literature, and navigation studies at Camp Wohelo on Sebago Lake, Maine. 

In 1994, Proctor Academy pioneered a trimester at sea program for high school students unlike any independent school had done before. Twenty-nine years later, Ocean Classroom set sail from Mystic, Connecticut with 22 student crew members whose lives are about to be changed forever. 

The water churned along the walkway of the GulfQuest/National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico next to the Mobile River in Mobile, Alabama. Pockets along the river were filled with branches, leaves, and brackish detritus that pooled next to sea vessels that had been docked for what looked like more than a year. 

Proctor’s Winter Ocean Classroom program took on a new theme this year as we joined forces with the MET School of Providence, Rhode Island and Sailing Ships Maine to design a shared trimester at sea program that would sail from Charleston, South Carolina around Florida to Mobile, Alabama. Along the way, students from Proctor and the MET School studied historic Southern ports, involuntary servitude, and the lasting impact of slavery on both economic and social systems throughout America. 

Proctor Academy's historic winter Ocean Classroom program joining Proctor students with students from the MET School of Providence, Rhode Island continues their adventure at sea. After two weeks of managing COVID-19 ashore, the Harvey Gamage returned to the open waters, with students aboard.

Proctor's winter Ocean Classroom program in collaboration with the MET School of Providence, RI and Sailing Ships Maine has been sidelined in Brunswick, Georgia for a week as the crew has dealt with managing COVID-19 cases on board the ship. While the turn of events over the past weeks has been challenging, and disappointing, the resiliency and positive attitude of the students on board, the tireless hard work by the Captain and crew, and the support of parents have been inspiring. With open seas in sight, Calvin '22 reflects on the past week aboard (and alongside) Harvey Gamage. 

Proctor's winter 2022 Ocean Classroom program, aboard the Harvey Gamage in partnership with Sailing Ships Maine, launched today from Charleston, South Carolina. The nine-week journey will finish on March 8, 2022 in Mobile, Alabama as students from both Proctor and the MET High School and Big Picture Learning, both of Providence, RI, explore the historic roots of these two southern ports, and the open waters in between.