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Thursday, September 6, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Release 9.1
Tanya Gabettie, Communications Coordinator
508.237.1920
Floating Classroom;
Spirit Returns to Provincetown
(Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA) - MassSail and Provincetown Public Schools give local students a unique, hands-on learning experience aboard Spirit of Massachusetts, a 125-ft Schooner.
MassSail - a joint venture between the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) and the Ocean Classroom Foundation (OCF) - is a series of marine education programs aboard Spirit of Massachusetts to promote public awareness and encourage interest and stewardship in Massachusetts' rich marine environment through shipboard and dockside programs in Massachusetts coastal cities and towns, making its fourth visit to Provincetown for Community Days.
MassSail begins a week of day sail programs with Provincetown Schools on September 10 and will sail with middle and high school students from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. According to Jessica Waugh, Provincetown School Superintendant, "The MassSail program engages our students with the marine environment, while intensifying the district collaboration with the Center for Coastal Studies."
Students, led by PCCS's award-winning Director of Marine Education Joanne M. Jarzobski, engage in hands-on activities in marine science, natural history and conservation biology relevant to local marine environment. All curricula options are aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for History and/or Social Sciences, or Science and Technology and Engineering.
Aboard the ship, students work beside a professional crew to learn traditional seafaring skills. Lessons learned, achievements made, insights gained are internalized and retained, because students are invested in the process.
Provincetown Community Days Schedule
- Monday September 10 Grade 9
- Tuesday September 11 Grades 7 and 8
- Wednesday September 12 Grade 11
- Thursday September 13 Grade 6
- Friday September 14 Grades 10 and 12
Curricula Options
- 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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The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies is a private non-profit founded in 1976, dedicated to researching and protecting marine mammals in the Gulf of Maine through applied research, conservation, environmental and education programs.
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The Ocean Classroom Foundation [www.oceanclassroom.org] 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.
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PCCS Contacts
Tanya Gabettie
Communications Coordinator
Office: 508.487.3622 Ext. 103
Email: tgabettie@coastalstudies.org
Joanne M. Jarzobski
Marine Education Director
Office: 508.487.3623 Ext. 107
Email: masssail@coastalstudies.org
OCF Contact:
Laura Hundt
Education Director
Office: 800.724.7245 Ext. 100
Email: lhundt@oceanclassroom.org
Provincetown Public Schools Contact:
Jessica Waugh
Provincetown Superintendent
Office: 508.487.5000
Email: jwaugh@provincetown.k12.ma.us
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