From the Estuaries to the Banks: Ernestina makes connections

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[ Cape Ann | Mass Bay | Cape Cod | Buzzards Bay | Mt. Hope Bay ]

~Forms~

Program Application

Daysail Program Description

What to Bring on a Daysail

Daysail Program Questionnaire

Multi-day Program Description

What to Bring on an Overnight Sail

Multi-day Program Questionnaire

Participant Manifest Form

Participant Medical Form

The Massachusetts Schooner ERNESTINA offers multi-disciplinary, hands-on education programs tailored to meet the specific needs of schools, colleges and other educational and cultural organizations. Program offerings range from dockside visits for any age, daysails for sixth grade and up and five day passages at sea from coastal communities of Massachusetts, from Cape Ann to Mt. Hope Bay and beyond.

Aboard the Ernestina, the official vessel of the Commonwealth, students of all ages use the ship and its rich and varied history as a platform to study the marine environment and human impacts. They gain confidence and self esteem in learning how to orient themselves in the natural world and solving real-world problems. Many find important cultural connections through their shipboard experience.

If you would like to get some details on our programs, follow links below to individual descriptions or explore our daily logpages by clicking on dates on any of the monthly calendar pages.

Program Philosophy

Our approach to educational programs on Ernestina is grounded in guiding principles underlying Education Reform in Massachusetts. Staff have served as active members on the New Bedford PALMS (Partnership Advancing the Learning of Math and Science) Leadership Team and SAGEE (Secretary's Advisory Group for Environmental Education). Hands-on, inquiry based multi-disciplinary experiences are natural to an exploration of the coastal marine environment aboard a historic schooner. Also, Ernestina actively supports SEEAL (Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance) , a partnership under the auspices of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts. There's more detail in our educational mission statement.

Program Information

• Working on the Water: a 2-hour dockside program for 4th and 5th graders
• Watershed to the Bay: a 2-hour dockside program for 4th and 5th graders
• Coastal Connections: a 4-hour daysail program for 6th through 12th grade
• Expedition to the Water Planet: a multi-day program underway

Costs & Funding Alternatives

There are many ways to fund an experience on Schooner Ernestina. Summarized here are program costs and funding alternatives that have been successful in the past.

Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC)

Schooner Ernestina is a partner with the State Education and Environment Roundtable (SEER), Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts, Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance (SEEAL) and New Bedford Global Learning Charter School in supporting implementation of the Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC) Demonstration School Network in Southeastern Massachusetts. Grace Lieberman of SEER (see http://www.seer.org) will lead a five-day Institute in July 2004 to expand the Network within the region.

Using the Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC) for learning has been shown to improve student achievement and behavior (see Closing the Achievement Gap, Lieberman and Hoody, 1998). Teachers will be introduced to this model using the culturally and historically rich setting of New Bedford and the environmentally diverse Buzzards Bay region.