By Elizabeth Miller
At the Maritime Academy of Toledo, students learn basics like math and English. They also take classes on boatbuilding.
On a fall day in the boat lab, a few students are working on the inside of a small wooden boat. They鈥檙e gluing pieces of wood together along the inside of the boat before sanding it down.
鈥淭his boat鈥檚 going to be a tug boat, and hopefully we鈥檙e going to finish it by this spring,鈥� says Rick Brown, who runs the career tech program, which includes navigation, engineering, hospitality, and environmental science. 鈥淭hen we auction those off, raise more money to buy more wood so we can make more boats.鈥�
The Toledo public charter school is one of 56 schools nationwide that incorporate maritime or marine themes. Maritime focuses on the operation, repair, and maintenance of ships and boats, and a marine theme means oceanography and biology.
The students participate in a daily ritual similar to the U.S. Navy Colors Ceremony, where the whole school gathers in front of the American flag.
The theme extends throughout the school, says principal Aaron Lusk.
鈥淭he cafeteria鈥檚 a galley, the front desk is a helm,鈥� explains Lusk. 鈥淭he building is shaped like a ship, its considered a training ship and dry dock.鈥�
The founders opened the school in 2006 with the idea of letting inner city kids experience Lake Erie.
Freshman Maricella Morales took her first trip on the water when she arrived at the school this year. Now she鈥檚 thinking about going into the Navy.
鈥淚鈥檝e never learned anything about boats. I just went to regular schools,鈥� says Morales. 鈥淚t鈥檚 cool though to learn about something different than just what every school is teaching about.鈥�
The Toledo school runs from fifth grade through high school, and graduates go to the military, college or straight into a job. Others work on ships, or go on to higher education at a maritime college.
The hands-on learning in classes like boat building can be used in traditional classes too, says Dr. Art Sulzer. He鈥檚 on the board of Philadelphia鈥檚 Maritime Academy Charter High School and the Maritime for Primary and Secondary Education Coalition, a group that aims to bring maritime education to the masses.
鈥淚f you want to teach physics, you can of course teach physics on a blackboard or a smartboard with vectors,鈥� Sulzer says. 鈥淥r you can teach them knots.鈥�
Sulzer says the number of maritime schools is growing around the country. But there are only two others in the Great Lakes region: in Buffalo, N.Y., and Erie, Penn.
There may be more in the future. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a new school talking about opening in Cleveland, and we鈥檙e starting to get feelers from other ports around the Great Lakes,鈥� says Sulzer.
But students at the Toledo school still struggle academically. The school lags behind the Toledo Public Schools standard in graduation rates, according to state data released in September.
Principal Lusk plans to boost the school's academic performance, and to expand it from 283 students to 400.
He鈥檇 also like to see more students working in the industry after graduation.
Last summer, several students worked aboard the US Brig Niagara during the Tall Ships Festival. Next summer, students will get a taste of ship living on the USS Aries, an old Navy vessel that will sail the Ohio River.
Back in the boat lab, students are busy honing skills that can help them get those jobs. It鈥檚 an important part of their schooling.
"The boats are sometimes a little lumpy. They鈥檙e hardly professional, but that鈥檚 not the point,鈥� says Dave Brown, who mentors students in the lab.
鈥淭he point is, it鈥檚 something they鈥檝e accomplished that鈥檚 real, hard, and 3-dimensional. It鈥檚 quite a difference from 鈥極h, I passed the test 鈥� I built it.鈥欌��