Summer Learning Program Wrap Up

The Summer Learning Program at Courageous Sailing has officially ended and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend so much quality time with the kiddos and make sure they had an awesome summer.
One of the last lessons Sara planned was how an oil spill would impact the Boston Harbor. We used a computer program at Courageous that would demonstrate how far the oil would spread if such a disaster would occur.

Leann eager to see how far the oil spill would spread.

After we learned how fast the oil could spread and impact the entire harbor, we did our own little experiment. Using baby oil, food dye, feathers, and sponges, we learned a great amount about how an oil spill would negatively impact the harbor and all the creatures that reside in the harbor.
We placed baby oil in a small bowl and added blue food coloring. The students then dabbed their hands in the bowl. We realized the oil felt "slimy," "sticky," and "gunky". We then placed sponge shaped animals and saw how the oil seeped into the sponge animals.
We then questioned our kiddos, "How would you feel if you were an animal who was caught in an oil spill?".

The boys feeling how the oil on the sponge and on their skin

The responses were overall very impressive.  Emmanuel responded that he would be, "...sad because my home would be ruined and my food (algae) would be dirty." Elias felt mad because, "the humans wrecked my home, and it wasn't my fault!"

After learning we all traveled down to the dock to see our sea creatures. Our lesson really gave our kiddos an idea of how the animals would feel if a man made disaster occurred and how oil spills are preventable.
 We then ended our day with an exciting crab race!

Right before our crab race!

Overall, being involved with the Summer Learning Program at Courageous Sailing was a great honor and I am happy to have a hand in making an impact on the younger children of Boston.

Building life skills of our youth!

Below is an interesting white board of quotes and statistics of how much an impact Courageous Sailing has on the youth of Boston. I hope this awesome trend continues to grow and the community of Boston continues to support amazing programs like Courageous Sailing and Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.

:) Ali Hurney