By Capt. David Bell
With the critical need to attract, cultivate and train this country’s next generation of mariners, the role of primary and secondary maritime educational programs has taken on increased importance. As the number of K-12 schools in the United States with maritime courses has grown to more than 30, and with some of these programs now in their second decade, evidence is emerging that maritime programs also improve student outcomes in several ways.
For example, in his 2012 doctoral study, Dr. Arthur Sulzer Ed.D. documented how students in maritime high school programs had better attendance and higher test scores and graduation rates than similar students in traditional schools. Additionally, a growing body of anecdotal evidence from maritime schools and programs around the country speaks to the positive impacts they have on young men and women. Recognizing this, some maritime colleges are refocusing their recruiting efforts on the most promising graduates of maritime high schools.
To gain support for these programs from primary and secondary school administrators, teachers and parents who are not mariners, it helps to point out that maritime education also can complement and enhance traditional academic courses by supporting educational standards in math, science and language arts by providing students with real-world examples and connections and by exciting them with hands-on, experiential learning.
Perhaps even more importantly, maritime programs instill positive character attributes that parents and educators admire. Although we don’t yet have the research to confirm this, I see it on a daily basis. As mariners, we can readily understand how the very nature of maritime programs improves student demeanor and conduct. Maritime teachers and mariners who visit schools reinforce those attributes naturally, because that’s who we are.
I don’t necessarily see my job as teaching high school students how to tie knots or plot a course. Although these lessons are relevant, they won’t prepare teenagers to be mariners. There are more important lessons to impart, and the better the students learn these, the better prepared they will be to enter the workforce:
- Share with your shipmates. To succeed, we have to share everything: the work, the weather, the food, the occasional discomfort, the good times, the landfalls—everything.
- Other people depend on you. They are sleeping while you stand watch; they are counting on you to pull your weight.
- Ask for help when you need it. There is no shame in admitting that you don’t understand an order or a concept, or that you need a hand.
- Help others selflessly. There was a time when you knew less and someone helped you. Other people need your help.
- Resources and space are limited. Whether it’s a ship, a home, a neighborhood or the planet, we have only so much water, food or space for our stuff.
- Be responsible for your waste. Managing waste makes us conscious of it; how much we produce and how we dispose of it.
- Know the difference between needs and wants. Let the size of your sea bag—or the size of your paycheck and family—be a guide for setting priorities.
- Take pride in your work. Satisfaction in a job well done is one of the rewards of work.
- Learning never ends. Every day is different, technology and equipment change. If you stop learning, you’re just taking up space.
- Success requires training, planning, self-discipline, attention to detail and teamwork. Dedication and cooperation, not competition, will win the day.
- Respect nature. The sea is our lifeblood, not a trashcan.
- Greet each new day with enthusiasm for what you do. Complacency breeds mediocrity.
- Life is precious. Make the most of your time by doing what you love to do, doing it well and appreciating your shipmates.
- We’re all in the same boat. Whether it’s a tanker, a cruise ship, a lifeboat, a school or a city, we succeed or fail together.
Every time a mariner visits my classroom at Maritime Academy Charter High School in Philadelphia, Pa.—whether a pilot, tugboat captain, member of the Coast Guard or cadet from SUNY Maritime or Kings Point—he or she communicates these values by words and demeanor. In this sense, every mariner, whether working or retired, can play a role in maritime education. If you have something to give, mentor a young shipmate or find a nearby maritime school and share what you’ve learned.
About the Author
Capt. David Bell is an instructor at the Maritime Academy Charter School in Philadelphia, Pa.