| Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Media Release 8.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Theresa M. Barbo: 774.263.4219
ccsmedia@coastalstudies.org
TDBanknorth Sponsors Spirit of Massachusetts
Cape Cod Bay & Canal Community Days at Massachusetts Maritime Academy August 8 - 13
(Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA) - Spirit of Massachusetts will dock at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay beginning August 10 for MassSail's Cape Cod Bay & Canal Community Days sponsored by TDBanknorth. Prior to arrival at Buzzards Bay, students from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands will sail aboard Spirit for an overnight marine science education program.
"TDBanknorth is proud to sponsor this opportunity for Upper Cape families and organizations to tour Spirit of Massachusetts to learn about the environmental heritage of our ocean," said Marlene Weir, community relations officer at TDBanknorth.
MassSail is a joint venture of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) and the Ocean Classroom Foundation (OCF); its mission is to foster stewardship and understanding of Massachusetts' marine coastal environment.
Unique to MassSail is the opportunity for students to study marine ecosystems, marine mammals, and seafaring skills that take a student's hands and mind beyond the limits of traditional classrooms. Spirit's schedule during Cape Cod Bay & Canal Community Days features dockside and at-sea programs:
Tuesday, August 8 & Wednesday, August 9
An overnight sail with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands, departing from and arriving to Provincetown, is planned for August 8. TDBanknorth will sponsor the sail. Marine educators from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies and Ocean Classroom Foundation will be aboard Spirit.
Thursday, August 10
Samantha A. Mirabella, an Interpretive Park Ranger with the US Army Corps of Engineers at the Cape Cod Canal, will deliver an illustrated lecture on the history of the Canal on Thursday, August 10, at 3 P.M. She has worked at the Canal for nearly 10 years where she manages the Interpretive Services and Outreach Programs and the Cape Cod Canal Visitors Center. As an interpreter, Mirabella reveals and relates the Canal's unique history, features and operation to people of all ages. Her lecture will be held at the TDBanknorth branch in Buzzards Bay, 121 Main Street.
Saturday, August 12 & Sunday, 13
Spirit of Massachusetts will be open for free public tours on Saturday, August 12, and Sunday, August 13, from 10:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay. Visit with the Spirit crew and learn about traditional seafaring skills, maritime history and contemporary issues and concerns about our marine ecosystem. [Limited parking is available.] Constructed in 1984 at the Charlestown Navy Shipyard, Spirit of Massachusetts is a 125-foot long schooner modeled after the late 19th century fishing vessel, the Fredonia, designed by Edward Burgess, which sailed to the North Atlantic fishing grounds for cod.
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Since MassSail's inaugural season that launched in May 2005, hundreds of students - aged 13 thru college - have crossed the Spirit's decks for an odyssey in experiential education.
All curricula options are aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for History and/or Social Sciences, or Science and Technology and Engineering. Students from Big Brothers Big Sisters will be full participants in the operation of the ship, working with the vessel's professional crew to learn the skills and arts of traditional seafaring, studying cetaceans in the Gulf of Maine, including humpback and the critically-endangered North Atlantic right whales, and marine ecosystems.
This personal and authentic experience of the ocean world forms a uniquely powerful context for education. Lessons learned, achievements made, insights gained are internalized and retained, because students are invested in the process. Their studies will include:
- Charts and the Art of Navigation
- Cetaceans - Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises: A Biological and Historical Perspective
- Fishing - Fisheries, Species, History and Management
- Weather for the Mariner
- Geology and Land-Sea Interactions
- Sea Birds - Species, Feeding, Distribution and Abundance
- Whaling - Modern and Historic
- Phytoplankton and Zooplankton
- Conservation Biology - Entanglements and Ship strikes
- Sea Turtles - Natural History, Population and Conservation Biology
- Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses - Natural History, Population and Conservation Biology
- Sharks, Rays and Skates - Natural History, Population and Conservation Biology
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'30 Years of Discovery & Commitment'
The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies is dedicated to protecting marine mammals and coastal ecosystems through public education, scientific research, and conservation programs. Since its founding in 1976, the private, non-profit has become internationally renowned for its whale research and rescue programs, and is a leading authority for science-based resource management policies in Massachusetts through Coastal Solutions Initiative, the Center's public policy arm.
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The Ocean Classroom Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides programs of sea education and adventure for the youth of America aboard the schooners Westward, Harvey Gamage, and Spirit of Massachusetts. OCF is a leader in experiential education, with award-winning programs sailing from the Canadian Maritimes to the Caribbean Sea.**
PCCS Contacts:
Theresa M. Barbo
Director of Communications
Office: 508.487.3622 x103
Mobile: 774.263.4219
ccsmedia@coastalstudies.org
Joanne M. Jarzobski
Marine Education Director
508.487.3623 x108
masssail@coastalstudies.org
OCF Contact
Jenny Doak
Communications Coordinator
800.724.7245 x105
jdoak@oceanclassroom.org
TDBanknorth Contact
Marlene Weir
Community Relations Officer
508.862.6452
marlene.weir@tdbanknorth.com
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