|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Mr. Terry Davies, President and CEO is pleased to announce the appointment of Nigel McCarthy as President and CEO of
West Island College - Class Afloat starting August, 2009. Mr. Davies will remain with the College in his capacity as
Chairman of the Board.
Nigel McCarthy found a unique way to understand education on the teak decks of Concordia in the late 90s. Over the last
ten years he has traveled in the company of children to more than 100 countries around the world. He is the present Head
of Senior School, formerly the Director of International Studies at West Island College in Calgary, Alberta. His two
circumnavigations of the world were, however, the best of his adventures so the return to Class Afloat is a joy. Nigel
is an avid writer of social commentary and as founder of Humanican has developed humanitarian projects for children in
Tanzania, Ecuador, India, Tibet, Nepal, Laos and Tsunami relief reconstruction. Nigel believes that a more just world
will be founded in the courage of young people. The font of this courage lies in authentic experience.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 Our Grade 12s have returned from the sea and now call the town of Lunenburg home. Since their arrival they have been busy with school and a wide variety of activities designed to promote community development, environmental appreciation, active living and to reinforce the learning which took place aboard the vessel. Activities to date include: Nordic skiing, university campus tours, a jewelry-making/silversmith workshop, a lecture in Halifax by Lieutenant-General The Honourable Roméo Dallaire, workshops focused on ethics and international development, and weekly sporting activities including badminton, volleyball and basketball. Perhaps the most enjoyable and enriching experience was a five-day retreat to local organic Windhorse Farms. Here we focused on strengthening the community, developing an appreciation for nature, and focusing on personal reflection as a tool for life-long learning. Meditation workshops were offered as well as a workshop on creativity, facilitated discussions about global issues and, of course, many interactive and cooperative games focused on leadership and communication. In the months to come we will continue to offer activities that push our students out of their comfort zones and force them to really think about their actions and place in the world.
 Midterm exams are quickly approaching but before April term break our students will participate in a two-day Global Awareness Youth Conference focused on social justice issues such as food sovereignty, child soldiers, global citizenship, microfinance and global health. In our final term together we will continue to academically prepare our students for university while exploring the outdoors with hiking, biking and kayaking trips. We will engage our students in the local sailing community with weekly excursions and continue to provide stimulating workshops which focus on taking action and doing what is right. Our diverse opportunities are designed to offer our students the proper tools for succeeding in an ever-changing world and to be proactive citizens in their own communities.
- Ryan Cleland, Faculty
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
Port Profile:
 The students arrived to Puerto Madryn, Argentina following a three week sail from Brazil. While in Argentina, the students worked with a local marine biologist studying local animals. The students toured Peninsula Valdez and camped on the beach. They witnessed an orca beach herself and feed on an unsuspecting sea lion. The group also visited a penguin colony where they took thousands of pictures. The students throughly enjoyed the opportunity to be so close with nature!
Highlights from life at sea:
 We passed a number of icebergs during the first half of the sail. Most of them were only appreciated on radar, as the visibility was poor. On the day that we were originally scheduled to reach Tristan da Cunha, we saw the amazing spectacle of an iceberg less than a mile off of our port side. The visibility had improved and the enormity of the iceberg could be easily appreciated - 120 meters high and 400 meters wide! The students were enthralled with the iceberg and hundreds of pictures were taken to remember the experience. The 29 day sail allowed us to cover over 4,000 nautical miles and provided us with numerous whale and albatross sightings, taught us much about seamanship, and helped forge stronger bonds among the student crew. It was a long, memorable and fantastic sail!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Port Profile:
 From March 12-16, we visited Puerto Limon, Costa Rica and had a fantastic experience. The crew spent a morning experiencing once of Costa Rica's infamous canopy tours which is a series of 12 cable rides in climbing harnesses about 100m from the rain forest floor, zipping through the air from platform to platform. It was an incredible experience, and left us wanting much, much more! That night we spent the night camping at a backpackers facility called Rocking J's which was packed with young people from all over the world travelling and surfing in Costa Rica. The next day we went white water rafting on the Pacuare River which is one of Costa Rica’s best rafting spots. We went on a 20 mile stretch of class 2, 3, and 4 rapids through incredible scenery, canyons, and rain forest with waterfalls pouring in the river, and toucans flying around. A very surreal, but amazing experience. For the remainder of our time in port most students and staff took a bus to the little surfing village of Puerto Viejo 2 hours from Puerto Limon and spent the day scuba diving, snorkelling, surfing, eating in little open air restaurants, and browsing though shops and markets. Costa Rica is definitely a favourite country of this crew!
Highlights from life at sea:
 The sail from Colombia to Costa Rica proved to be the most exciting sail we have had to date! The weather gave us quite a work-out with high winds for days and seas which kept us rocking and rolling on board. There is something quite humbling about being on a tall ship and remembering and respecting the vastness and power of the ocean. Chopin, of course, seems happiest in these conditions and is designed to handle the weather. The students were on the the helm 24 hours a day and were proud of their ability to maneuver and master this exciting sail. They loved it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There are still limited positions available to sail aboard the SV Concordia for 2009-2010. Whether for high school
or university, we are still looking for those unique and adventurous students who want a challenging educational
experience through adventure travel, community and solid academics. To apply you can either download an
application form from our website
or apply online.
The anticipated itinerary for the upcoming year has been released. With new countries like Turkey, Tunisia, Malta,
and Uruguay being added to this year's itinerary, it is certain to be a remarkable year. You can view the ports of
call by clicking here.
To take advantage of the beautiful summer sailing conditions on the Atlantic coast, our Summer Camp for youth
between the ages of 15-18, will join the Tall Ship Atlantic Challenge sail from Nova Scotia to Boston, MA. From
June 29th to July 27th, we will have students from around the world join the Concordia to learn to sail and improve
their leadership skills. Please click here for
more information.
If you have any questions about the programs at Class Afloat, please call us at 1-800-301-7245 or by email at
discovery@classafloat.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Going Global
In May 2008, Class Afloat established an affiliation with the Lunenburg based not-for-profit named the Global Education Association. This
not-for-profit aims to develop globally-minded practices and encourages the development of students who have the skills and the awareness
needed in order to participate in both local and global social, political and environmental issues.
This winter GEA programs aimed at developing an interest and a sense of empowerment in young people. These programs include the West
Africa Initiative
West Africa Initiative
 December 2008, both the Concordia and the Fryderyk Chopin sailed out of Las Palmas en route to Senegal for the 2008 West Africa Initiative. The 2008 project themes included health and sanitation, journalism for human rights, environment and micro-finance. Each student selected one of these projects to work on throughout the sail to Dakar and the port of call.  Upon arrival in Dakar the Class Afloat youth joined forces with Senegalese youth to planned, prepared and delivered projects such as primary health surveys in local households, video advocacy training and footage collection, climate change presentations at local high schools, hand washing workshops at a street kids centre among others.
Cinema Politica
This Winter has also seen the beginning of the 2009 Cinema Politica Series. Cinema Politica is a program aimed at building awareness of
both global and local issues by coupling documentary films with guest speakers and providing a space to learn about, discuss and formulate
action on a variety of current issues. The first film screening was "the Story of Stuff" a short film aimed at raising awareness about society's
unsustainable strategies for production and consumption. Upcoming films include Sharkwater, and King Corn.
- Andrea Cleland, Director of Global Education Association
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Karen May-Kim was a Class Afloat student from August 1996 to June 1997.
After Class Afloat, Karen went on to attend the University of Ottawa where she received an Honours degree in Geography
followed by Bachelor of Education degree from Queens University. Karen taught Grade 9 Geography and Grade 10 Career and
Civics from 2004-2006 in Ontario. She is currently finishing up her Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies at York
University and hopes to go back to teaching in September.
When asked how Class Afloat has impacted the person she is today, Karen states, "Class Afloat made me more a more open
minded and accepting person. It taught me the value of culture, and the value of each individual. Class Afloat was one
of the best experiences of my life and I still think about it often! A couple of my fondest memories was the home-stay
in Pitcairn Island, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, traveling in Saudi Arabia, and all the great people that I shared
the experience with."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ryan and Andrea Cleland have worked as educators with Class Afloat for seven and fours years respectively. Married for the past two years,
both Ryan and Andrea have a passion for young people and for helping them to understand their place and space in the world and how each and
every one of them has the power to make their world a better place. Over the years the Clelands have taught courses in the fields of science,
social science and humanities and each have also been involved in planning and delivering land practica activities, living in residence as
staff supervisors and in developing and delivering humanitarian, sustainability and cross-cultural exchange projects with our affiliated
not-for-profit the Global Education Association. After several years living and working aboard the Concordia, Ryan and Andrea now make Nova
Scotia home and continue to inspire youth through our Lunenburg school programs.
When asked what they love most about being involved with Class Afloat, what they feel are the most important values/attitudes that students
learn while participating and how Class Afloat has influenced them as people and educators, Ryan and Andrea responded:
We love working with Class Afloat because it offers unique educational opportunities. We have very few constraints as teachers and we are
easily able to implement new or progressive educational ideas. We also enjoy the opportunity to live with our students and get to know them
on a much more personal level than many other school environments. Living and working in such a tight community offers unparalleled learning
opportunities for us and our students.
We feel that students gain an appreciation through the Class Afloat community for how their actions affect others. They are able to see the
consequences of their actions and therefore become more accountable for them. We also hold our students to a very high moral and ethical
standard and I think they both appreciate and value this aspect of the program. By constantly questioning behaviours they are forced to
evaluate and justify certain decisions and rationale. This leads to more community-oriented youth and, in turn, globally aware citizens.
We both feel that we are now much more student-centered teachers. Because we know our students so well we try to teach them and help them
become more well-rounded people. We no longer teach subjects, we teach students! We have also learned that students will perform to meet your
expectations. In our collective eleven years with the organization, we have set our expectation higher every year and have yet to be let down.
At the end of each year we feel immense pride for the students and take great pleasure in watching them grow and mature.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joining Class Afloat for grade 11 was the second best decisions I have ever made, and the first was retuning for grade 12. Class Afloat
has been my home for the past two years and I am so grateful for it. The difficulties I experienced at the beginning of the whole
experience have taught me that I can survive through the terrible lows, and how incredible the highs are when they finally arrive.
Being on this program for two years has given me the opportunity to see so many different views this world has to offer, it has given
me the opportunity to meet so many incredible people and keep life-long friendships with other returning students. Class Afloat has not
only given me so many incredible experiences but it has helped me to grow into the person I want to be. By seeing the world and yourself
from a different perspective you can improve your flaws and shape the kind of individual you want to be in the future. Class Afloat has
been so incredible for the surface reasons like travailing around the globe on a tall ship, however the aspect that has forever changed
my life for the good will never be able to be summarized in a bio. It is the bonds created in a flawless society that works together in
perfect unison, the lessons you achieve from that are life-changing and can never be replicated anywhere else.
My fondest memory is still the hatching turtles from Ascension Island, and for the future I hope to see scuba diving in Costa Rica,
snowboarding in the Rockies, my passionate love Australia, and hopefully a career in Marine Biology. I would also like to thank my
family for always supporting me and the scarifies they have never complained about, I love you all so much.
- Chase Shields
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
