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.
Everyone who takes part in a Rocking the Boat program—Boatbuilders, Sailors, and Environmental Science participants alike—learn how to row. They love rowing in the traditional wooden boats they or their peers have built, and while they are always welcome to come back and take a boat out on the Bronx River, historically, there had not been many organized opportunities for them to do so. This all changed in 2015...
Mentoring has always been at the heart of Rocking the Boat’s approach to youth development. Boatbuilding Program Assistants, for example, just a few years older than new students tentatively handling a block plane for the first time, are always ready to answer questions and offer friendly guidance.
“A double-crested cormorant!”
“A what? I can’t see it.”
“There!” Yantzia, an Environmental Science Program apprentice and high school senior only weeks from graduation, pointed out a tall, black bird with a goosey neck to the people in her rowboat. It was June 2, and the passengers were guests of Rocking the Boat’s first-ever Community Birding event.
