Discovery High School Semester at Sea

  Canada

• Other Cities in Canada: 
New Brunswick,  Nova Scotia,  Prince Edward Island

  Dominica

• Other Cities in Dominica: 
Roseau

  Dominican Republic

• Other Cities in Dominican Republic: 
Santo Domingo

  Honduras

• Other Cities in Honduras: 
Roatan,  Utila,  Bay Islands

  Trinidad & Tobago

• Other Cities in Trinidad & Tobago: 
Port of Spain

  United States

• Other Cities in United States: 
New York,  Washington,  Boston,  Newark,  Norfolk,  Philadelphia

Duration of Program: 3-6 months
Dates: February - May

Description: Discovery(tm) High School Semester is a complete spring semester at sea for high school sophomores, juniors, seniors, and post-graduates exploring the Western North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea aboard the schooners Harvey Gamage, Spirit of Massachusetts and Westward. Accredited by Proctor Academy, in Andover, New Hampshire, Discovery High School Semester at Sea has been a successful part of our programming for over 14 years.

Courses in Marine Science, Maritime History, Marine Applied Mathematics, Maritime Literature, and Navigation are studied in a thoroughly integrated curriculum taught by a professional academic staff. Topics in each course are arranged to correspond with the voyage itinerary. All studies are linked to the students' immediate experience as sailors and explorers. Students go beyond learning by doing. In Ocean Classroom, they discover the power of learning by living.

Ocean Classroom students are full participants in the operation of the ship, learning the time-honored skills of seamanship, and working on watch with the professional ship's officers and crew. In addition to the nautical arts of "hand, reef, and steer", they learn great life-lessons in teamwork, mutual respect, and the value of determined effort. Thus, in a way that is rare in modern life, they come to truly own their achievements and the success of their voyage.

Highlights: Ocean Classroom ranges the Western North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, from the maritime provinces of Canada to the shores of South America. It is a major sea voyage, logging some 4,000 nautical miles each term and calling at ports in many countries. This great geographic scope allows us to study a variety of ocean environments, to travel to exotic lands, and to get to know people from diverse maritime cultures. The ocean is our medium for learning, adventure and travel. Upon the unbroken vastness of the sea, the many experiences of Ocean Classroom combine to form a single grand voyage of discovery.

Each term the marine environment is explored up close and in detail. There are field research project in the fishing grounds of New England, the mid-Atlantic coastal estuarine systems, the barrier islands of the southeastern U.S. Coast, the Gulf Stream, and the coral reefs and mangroves of the Caribbean. We often make use of the resources of the Allied Whale Research Center, College of the Atlantic, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Duke University Marine Lab, Cumberland Island National Seashore, the National Park Service of the Dominican Republic and other facilities, for a wide range of marine biology, policy, and oceanographic investigations.

Students learn about the maritime heritage and cultures of coastal and island communities. Cultural institutions such as Mystic Seaport Museum and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum provide rich ground for research in U.S. maritime history. An extensive network of local contacts all along the voyage track provides our students with direct access and a local perspective to historical and cultural points of interest. Ocean Classroom students meet and share activities with students in many foreign countries including the Bahamas, Dominica and the Grenadines, making new friends and gaining authentic multicultural experiences.

Points of interest can include:

St. Thomas, USVI; St. John, USVI; St. Eustatius; Antigua; Montserrat; Guadeloupe; Dominica; Martinique; Grenada; Trinidad; Tobago; Culebra, Puerto Rico; Old San Juan, Puerto Rico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Great Inagua, The Bahamas; Isla Utila, Honduras;Belize City, Belize; St. Petersburg, FL; Cumberland Island, GA; Charleston, SC; Norfolk, VA; New York City, NY; Mystic Seaport, CT; Provincetown, MA; Boston, MA; Annapolis, Nova Scotia; Castine, ME; Boothbay Harbor, ME.

Cost in US$: 19,250

This Program is open to American, Asian, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi, South African and Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel in Groups

Typically Participants Work in Groups of 7

Application Process Involves:

• Essay
• Letters of Reference
• Phone Interview
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Transcript
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Job and Internship Network
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home

Ocean Classroom Foundation's Mission Statement: Ocean Classroom Foundation is committed to sending students and their teachers to sea, on voyages in which the traditions, values and adventure of maritime life provide a unique context for education. We strive to create programs aboard our ships in which our students grow stronger and more confident socially, intellectually, ethically and physically to take their places among the generations of exceptional men and women who have been transformed by seafaring life.

Year Founded: 1997