"Once you know, it’s hard to go back. Now you have to do something," says Robertson, a high school senior and apprentice in Rocking the Boat’s Environmental Job Skills Program, who is taking part in the first ever study of microplastic contamination of the Bronx River.
Whether students are working together to row a 17-foot Whitehall to an oyster restoration station up river, to steam, clamp, and fasten a cedar plank to an oak frame, or successfully navigate a small sailboat back to the mooring in heavy wind, teamwork is a constant at Rocking the Boat.
Rocking the Boat’s social workers follow a highly organized program to lead students towards post-graduation plans. The main thrust occurs in their junior and senior years with school campus visits, workplace visits, and information sessions
Perhaps it is the habit of summer to stir the memory, or more precisely the recent launch of Nostalgia, Rocking the Boat students’ 54th traditional wooden boat and 19th Whitehall rowboat, but we have looked to the past for this month’s Spotlight inspiration.
Day-to-day, more than 30 different partners work hand-in-hand with Rocking the Boat to deliver extraordinary opportunities to South Bronx teens.
