Sea Shanties

Haul away JOE

Fishing in Boston

What's up guys, this week was all about stepping outside of my comfort zone. Now this is a really scary thing to do, yet I am proud to say I survived! It's like you do all this overthinking about what could possibly go wrong but then the experience was not even as bad as you thought it would be. Now, if I can do it then certainly everyone is capable of taking that big step forward.

We began by meeting the BCYF Jackson Mann and YES programs at the Pop Up Museum in the North End. It was a quiet, cloudy morning that felt like the rain would be coming any minute now. Anyone who'd have taken a look inside the museum could see how alive and

Fish Printing!

boisterous it was. David taught the youth a lesson about the famous tale of the lady in black. Signaling us by beginning to switch the subject to the importance of team work and leading us to sing a sea shanty for them. And so we sang, "WAY HAUL AWAY, WE'LL HAUL AWAY TOGETHER, WAY HAUL AWAY WE'LL HAUL AWAY JOE!" as we went around the circle and sang a different verse I could feel my anxiety rising as all eyes would be casted upon me. I cleared my mind and just sang along. As insignificant as it may seem, singing (when you can't sing) in front of a group of people you just met, makes one feel quite vulnerable or even embarrassed. Rather than shy away I pushed myself to embrace the attention in a different way, a positive one. Yes I may not have been on key but I made a few small people (including myself) giggle. I also encouraged them to sing along and they did. A young man was singing to the top of his lungs and together we spared a few happy moments for each other.

That was my second time singing to a group of kids I just met. To point out my first time earlier that week at Georges where we sang our favorite sea shanty, Haul Away Joe, at the park. If you recognize Georges you'll notice the small playground they have next to the cafe. Well, my staff and I climbed up the mini Fort Warren all the way to the top to sing Haul Away Joe. Being my first time, I was surprised at how quickly I jumped in to sing a verse, since no one else was really willing to. I would call it the most valuable thing I've done so far this summer. These times that I felt afraid or just embarrassed to be singing in front of strangers, I did not quit or try to opt out. It was way outside my comfort zone but I was able to learn from it. Instead of dwelling on the what-ifs, I went straight into it. I wouldn't say that now I am prepared to sing in front of a crowd or anything crazy like that but it showed me that some things are not as bad as they seem.

Touch Tank x Atlantic Wharf

Pritae Stories and Crab Claws

Hello Boston!

Tony the Pirate Sharing Scary Stories

This Friday I had the opportunity to work at Atlantic Wharf.Our team at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay had a lot of fun activities set up for the kids who joined us that day including storytelling with Tony the Pirate, fishing off the wharf, and crab traps and touch tanks by the water. I was in charge of playing What You Can't See Under the Sea with the children. To play this game, we sat down and discussed animals that live in the ocean, how they act, and what they eat. Each participant chose their favorite animal and got into character as we ran around the grass reenacting an underwater scene. I got "stung" by a squiggly jellyfish, chomped on by a fast shark, and nabbed by a speedy narwhal.  The kids had a great time being sea creatures; they did not want to stop playing!

All the Children at Atlantic Wharf

Save the Harbor Set Up at Children's Museum

Once the group left Atlantic Wharf, I headed over to the Boston Children's Museum to interact with the museum goers and other onlookers. We set up fishing rods and a touch tank filled with freshly trapped crabs. Both kids and adults were thrilled by the option to stop what they were doing and hold a crab or cast a fishing rod. People would bustle by, busy with life and caught up in their own worlds, and I'd lure them over with an interesting crab fact. Many people had never held a crab before!



While working the touch tank with Garret, he taught me that the triangular part of the underside of a crab is known as an "apron." I love learning new facts about these awesome sea creatures, thank you Garret! I had a great time playing with the kids at the Boston Children's Museum and I hope I will get to go back soon.

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

At Atlantic Wharf........

At Atlantic Wharf

  Good morning everyone, on Friday July 15 Christian, Bella, Chris, Luke, and I were at Atlantic Wharf, funnest spot of all access. What we do at the Atlantic Wharf is we participate with the kids on fish printing or fishing and talk about a story about the pirate but the most fun part of the day at Atlantic Wharf is that kids enjoy eating burritos. I and the staff help out to give some burrito to the kids but they ask for chicken because they don't like the veggie burrito or spice burrito so they ask for chicken. Also, kids could play a game with a pirate guy to pretend that they jumping of the boat it was so funny because kids really think that they are really a pirate. I was a fisherman at Atlantic Wharf I waiting for a fish to get hook on but I guess it didn't so I could show the kids how to catch one at the Harbor beach but at least we got some crabs. When I was showing the kids the crab I was playing around with there claw so when I was about to show the kids the crabs the crab pitch me so I tossed it on the floor the kids was like I killed it but I was like no it's still alive but make sure never play around with crabs that are really aggressive. Also, when I was taking the spot for fishing and crabs catching i told the kids at the end of the day we could toss the crab in the water or let them have a race but they heard me wrong one of the kids toss the crabs in the air and it the dock i was running towards the kids to tell them not to throw the crabs in the air toss them in the water i was like oh my god these kids are crazy. But it was a great day seeing the kids having fun at Atlantic wharf one of the girl said in the microphone that is the best field trip ever and she wish to come back i felt excited and nervous because the kids are very wild and crazy with the crabs.